


Der Roter Falke

by DChan87



Category: Original Work, Tokusatsu
Genre: American Abroad, American Character, Bavaria, College, Cults, Elves, Gen, Germany, Munich - Freeform, Native American Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Superheroes, Superpowers, Tokusatsu - Freeform, college students
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 19:18:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4491579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DChan87/pseuds/DChan87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Tokusatsu superhero adventure! Tommy Driscoll is a rookie henshin-style American superhero code named Red Hawk operating in Munich, Germany. Even though he's unpopular right now, things are going to change very quickly. And it's not going to be pretty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet Tommy

Somewhere in Germany, a superhero fought a great battle with a supervillain.

The villain held a couple hundred innocent civilians hostage in a precarious situation, in a building that prevented help from getting to them. He'd held off the police, the army and other minor superheroes up till now. Things were looking dire, and he was just about to kill a hostage.

But there's no need to fear, the hero's here, and he's ready to do battle with the villain! They sized each other up while the police rescued the hostage. Then, they did battle! The villain gained the upper hand, and it looked like it was going to be a defeat for the hero. But hark! The hero pulled his inner strength together, and gained the upper hand! With some swift punches and kicks, he has the villain on the ropes, until a well-placed punch sends the villain flying into the hands of the police! The hero won, and the day was saved!

That happened in Berlin. Tommy Driscoll, the Red Hawk, in Munich, was not that superhero.

The 21-year-old American rookie superhero sat on a Munich roof, scanning the city, looking for any action at all, and holding a water bottle. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Null. Munich was not a popular spot for supervillains to attack for some reason. Maybe it was because the rest of Germany's superheroes had pretty much cleaned up the country by now.

Thanks a lot, assholes.

He finished guzzling the water and let out a sigh of satisfaction. He examined the bottle, noting about half of the bottle was left. He'd drank half the bottle in two gulps. "Guess I was thirsty," he said to himself. "Oh, well." He needed some liquid refreshment. And no, he didn't need any alcohol right now.

He took another swig and then examined the roof he was sitting on. The tip of the angular roof made it a little uncomfortable, but at least it's not a church spire. But the church spires in this city would probably be pretty comfortable to sit on. He was sitting against the chimney, so it wasn't too uncomfortable, anyways. But the bad part was it was kind of chilly.

He finished and looked out over the city he was in. Munich. He'd come here last year and it was pretty uneventful... from a certain point of view. The lights of the city shone in the Bavarian night and the chilly air gave it a romantic atmosphere about it. Oktoberfest had a month ago, and he'd gone with some associates. He'd probably have to go again.

Of course, he had a pretty nasty hangover that nearly got him in trouble when he came in to class the next morning. Boy, did he get an earful for the entire day, even when he went home. He got a call just as he was falling asleep, and it was from his teacher. "Are you still hungover?" he said, prompting him to hang up on his teacher (he got another earful the next day).

But Germany's been great, ever since he came here in January. He'd come for a great opportunity, a chance to go overseas, why wouldn't he jump at it? And no, it had nothing to do with what he was doing as of this very moment. But it was a good time nonetheless and though people were sad to see him leave so early, they were happy he was going somewhere that would give him such a fantastic opportunity.

He also said he'd love to come back. They said yes. Of course when he first got here, he could only get by on his near-fluent French, but he found out he could get by with his English.

Things changed in the summer, though, with his life.

The good part about Munich is that it's livable, safe and a low crime rate. The bad part is that it's not very good for his part-time night job.

Tommy placed a black helmet with a black visor over his head. A pair of fins stuck out from the side of his helmet, but never came up much above the crown. And even then it looked pretty sleek. His visor came to life, the HUD showing several thingies and states. But in the short run, it basically said this:

Nothing.

"Should have gone to Paris," he said to himself. At least Paris was eventful.

So you're probably figured out by now that Tommy's a part-time superhero operating in Munich. But why is he operating in Munich? He's a student at the (purely fictional) University of Munich. Why would an American like him be going there? It started as a semester abroad-type deal but he loved it so much he decided to stay. However, being in Munich is not great for his part-time superhero gig.

It was then he remembered that if he'd gone to Japan he'd run into the same guy who gave him the trinket that allowed him to turn into some kind of Japanese-style henshin-y (is that what they call it?) superhero. He can't win.

So here he is, dressed in his superhero outfit in the same colors as the Chicago Blackhawks. It's his fucking costume, he'll wear it however the fuck he wants, and if he wants to base himself off the best damn hockey team in America over the Captain America costume from that soon-to-be-out  _Avengers_ movie (but not the helmet), goddammit, he'll fucking do it!!

Okay, so he wasn't wearing skates, but he did have red boots. And at least his name was a little original... or not. But it made sense to him. Despite having an Irish last name and some Japanese added to the mix, Tommy was mostly of Native American heritage. So basing his name off the red-tailed hawk was a no-brainer. Neither was the suit design, based off the Chicago Blackhawks' home red and blacks.

Anyways—his headset began to ring. The caller ID said "STEIGER", one of his friends at U of M. "Yeah?" he said, answering the phone. "The Paulaner? Eh, maybe later, I'm kind of busy right now. I take it you're gonna wait for me. Ugh, fine, let just call my cous—yeah, the Irish one. No, my Japanese one is in Tokyo. BYE."

So with that out of the way, his costume actually has a little extra. He has a sort of backpack-thingamabob that when activated, sprouts Hawk-like wings that can be used for short flights. It's activated by pressing a button that acts as his insignia (a black hawk's head) on the front of his chest, which is attached with X-straps to the backpack thingamabob.

When he pressed on his insignia, the wings spread out and he used the magnets in his black gloves to attach them to the wings which were about the size of his torso. It's to allow him to him enough wingspan to glide. Unfortunately, he didn't have anything to—

Found something!

He smiled (excellently taken care of teeth, by the way) as his blue eyes (a recessive gene in his family) found a target, about a couple hundred meters east (he needed to change it to feet, yards and miles soon).Whatever, there might be something there he can take care of! Some  _Fraulein_  or an old  _Hausfrau_ getting mugged that he could save and he'd get a fantastic reward—

Where'd the snow come from?

He stopped and landed on another rooftop. His wings contracted and he looked around, trying to find out why there was a light dusting of snow, which is unseasonable in this time of—

He seethed in anger, aware of the person who'd just trolled him for the 6th time in 3 weeks. "Godammit, where are you?"

" _Guten Abend_ ," said a small, but mischievous voice. A girl appeared, appearing not much older than 12 years old, dressed like a fairy with an ice motif about her. Her ginger red hair tumbled down, but Tommy knew who this girl was.

"Schneefee," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," she said in her German accent. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on patrol," said Tommy. "Shouldn't you be in Rothenburg?"

"But it's so boring there!"

"It's the same here!" said Tommy. "I know your tricks; you have a teleportation power given to you by a fairy queen, right? And you're popular with the kids? How old are you, twelve?"

"And a half!"

"And I'm 22, but who cares!?" Tommy interrupted. "I thought there was something good this time!"

"Too bad!" Schneefee said, sticking her tongue out.

"Yeah, go and act all mighty, just because some fairy queen gave you those powers so you can act like Sailor fu-stinkin'-Moon," said Tommy, getting into rhythm, "But guess what? You're just an unsupervised 12-year-old running around causing small blizzards who should be working in Rothenburg but is using her powers to troll real superheroes in Munich!"

"Oh yeah? What about you? I hear the others don't like you, American!" Schneefee retaliated. "Why don't you go back to... Chicago?"

"I would if I had a teleportation power," said Tommy, "But it's not like I have a choice, and besides I didn't come to Germany to be a superhero, got it?"

"Then why—"

"To go to school!" he interrupted. "Now run along and leave me alone, your mommy's probably getting worried about you missing your bed time."

" _Dummkopf!_ " She shouted while blowing a raspberry.

" _Casse-toi, vous mioche!_ " he shouted back. Great, now he just swore off a 12-year-old girl, who if he suspects might be correct, is the niece of his team's captain. Oh boy, he's gonna be in trouble.

Well, either way there was nothing else going on tonight and he'd feel more like an idiot if he stayed in superhero get-up on a night when the only crimes being committed are likely to be alcohol related. That stuff is best left to the  _Polizei_. There was an alley nearby where he could drop down and power-down. So he did just that.

A flash of red light later and he walked out of the alley blending into the crowd despite wearing a jacket from New Trier high school in Winnetka, Illinois (his high school alma mater). No one seemed to care. He smiled, knowing he'd succeeded.

A quick hop on the tram later and he was in Schwabing, the university and coffee shop borough of Munich. He made his way to a tree-lined complex of two-story, four-unit kinda-sorta-maybe high-end flats where his apartment was. His was on the first floor of a building in this complex. When he opened the door—

"Where the hell have you been!?" An Irish brogue shouted out. A young man, about a year or two young than him, stood up, supporting his left leg with a shillelagh.

"Oh, I forgot your aspirin," said Tommy. "Sorry couz."

"You lie," said his cousin Kevin.

Tommy glared at him, his slender and rounded (a combination) face scrunching up in disappointment. He took off his Wisconsin Badgers hat and shook out his medium-length and flat brown hair. His fair skin was a little red thanks to being out in the chilly Bavarian air and he took off his jacket, placing it in the closet in the foyer.

Tom sat down at the table in the kitchen; barely wincing. "Is that knee getting better?" asked Tommy.

"Doc says I should be able to play soon," said Kevin. "I'm not sure when." Tom is from Ireland, Dublin, to be exact. He has slightly darker hair than Tommy and a thinner face (although his body is about one or two pounds lighter) and a little shorter but hasn't been cut it a while.

"Steiger called," said Tommy. "He wants to go to the Paulaner Brauhaus, probably for sponsor reasons."

"I wanted to go to the pub," Kevin said in his Dublin accent (although their family actually originates in Cork).

"Too bad," said Tommy, "And you're coming whether you like it or not."

"At least I don't have to like it," said Kevin. His last name is Maloney, by the way. And yeah, he goes to U of M, too. "And how did superhero stuff work out tonight?"

"Let's just say I hate fairies," said Tommy, "Especially if they're twelve years old."

"You're 22, and you got in an argument with a 12-year-old?" said Kevin.

"And you're 22 and I've seen you get into it with a ten-year-old!" Tommy replied. "By the way, I'm gonna call Kathrin and see if she wants to come with."

"Oh I know she'll want to come," Tom teased, getting a glare from Tommy, "And maybe that little lad who's been hanging around here. You do say hanging, right?"

"What kid?" asked Tommy. Kevin shrugged. He must have assumed Tommy had seen the kid. "Do you actually think that a kid would be anywhere near the least popular foreign superhero in Germany?"

"Looks like 'Der Roten Falke' isn't going to be very popular any time soon," said Kevin. "Now call your girlfriend, we need to move it!"  
  


"She is not my—oh, forget it!" Tom sat back, pouring a shot of Jameson while Tommy talked to his old-high-school-friend-who-happened-to-be-living-in-the-same-city-he-was (his latest excu—I mean, explanation) Kathrin Neuhaus. It should also be mentioned that Kathrin, despite being a New Trier High School grad and a Chicago area girl, was born in Hamburg, although that will have very little on the plot.

Kevin played with Tommy by giving him the thumbs-up during a very awkward back-and-forth between Tommy and his friend. Oh, how he was going to pay for that later. Oh well, might as well have some fun right now.

The two eventually finally left for the Paulaner Brauhaus with Tommy wearing a University of Wisconsin hoodie and black vest while Kevin pulled a flat cap on.

The two left the apartment and noticed a 10/11/12-year-old kid watching from a distance. The two told him off and he stuck out his tongue and showed a backwards "V sign" (a gesture that's lost on Tommy) before running off. "Kids," said Tommy, before the two hopped on the nearest tram.

They got off and walked to the Brauhaus to meet with Kathrin and the rest of the players who were going to be there.

There was a person who looked like a boy waiting at the front of the brauhaus, but upon getting closer, it became clear that it was a girl about 22 years old. It's the short hair that causes the confusion. "There she is," said Tommy while the girl came up and gave him a friendly hug.

"Hi Tommy," she said, her voice definitely feminine.

"Why does she have to look like a lad?" asked TomKevin.

"Is there anything wrong with the way I look?" she asked. "Do you think I'm a lesbian, because they can look—"

"Kathrin, calm down," said Tommy. "We gotta meet the guys, so let's just go inside."

Even though the  _Wiesn_ isn't going on, the brauhaus isn't as packed as it would be... and it is a Wednesday night. There was no need to really look for the rest of the party. They were in a corner of the restaurant having some drinks and it looked like they were a little early. Luckily, things weren't going to be so bad.

"You're late!" Then again...

"Sorry,  _mon ami fils-de-pute_ ," Tommy replied sarcastically.

"I  _heard_ that," said the same person. He's Martin Steiger, about 21 years old and Tommy and Kevin's  _other_ friend. He was born in Rothernburg ob der Tauber, and he might be the uncle of Schneefee's civilian persona. Not the right person to get in trouble with.

"What did he speak?" said a kid with a Hungarian accent, 20-year-old László Kovács (no relation to the Hungarian politician) from Budapest. He's actually good with his English, just a little rusty at it.

"I didn't say anything," Tommy replied.

"Yes you did," said Kevin. "I know enough French."

"Apologize," said Steiger.

"Sorry," said Tommy.

"No wonder you're so popular," Kathrin deadpanned.

"Please don't say that," said Tommy.

"Because it's true?" asked Kathrin. The others at the table laughed. Tommy pulled the bill of his cap down in embarrassment while their Ukrainian friend Dimitri Shevchenko patted him on his shoulder.

After Tommy ordered his beer, things calmed down and the people at the table turned into normal people having a beer with friends. "... And so that's why I didn't make the fake spontaneous Oktoberfest appearance in lederhosen!" said Kevin.

"And because you hate wearing lederhosen," said Tommy, "Although neither of us wore lederhosen to Oktoberfest, either."

"Which is why everyone mocked you," said Steiger.

"That's not nice," said Tommy. "But hey, I got to wear my Bears jersey, so I'm fine with that."

"... There was a Red Hawk sighting earlier tonight," Tommy heard their other friend Jens Klinsmann saying, "He and Schneefee were getting into it."

 _There goes my reputation_ , Tommy thought while taking a sip of his white beer.

"Red Hawk?" said Steiger, "The Superhero Union doesn't like him. I don't understand why, though, they just make themselves look vindictive. You know what I think the dumbest superhero is?"

"What do you mean?" asked Klinsmann. "What is the dumbest superhero in the world?"

"The one who operates her in Munich."

_PSSSSHHHTTT!_

"Driscoll, I did not know you could do a spit-take while sipping your beer," said Kovács.

"It's a rare talent," Tommy dead-panned. And no, Kovács is not having a beer.

"Oh, what is your brother doing?" asked Kovács.

"Ryan?" said Tommy, "I think hockey season starts soon at UW, so he'll be playing his second season at Madison this year."

"I thought he was a football player," said Kathrin. "Quarterback, right?"

"Mom didn't want him to play that," said Tommy, "All those concussions."

"I'm not sure if hockey is any better," said Kathrin.

"Well, he's probably not going to the NHL," said Tommy. "That reminds me, I need to get to an EHC München game."

"Good luck with that," said Steiger.

"Driscoll, why were they talking about superheroes?" asked Kovács.

"I don't know and I don't care," said Tommy. "Hey Steiger, how come only 7 people are here?"

"The rest are busy," said Steiger. Tommy nodded in understanding. "Oh well, who needs them, right!?" There was a resounding cheer from the other players. " _PROST!_ "

" _Prost_ / _Sláinte_ / _Cheers_ / _Fenékig_ / _будьмо!_ " came the resounding chorus from the table and a shot of drinking (the only one not holding a beer was Kovács).

"Maybe we should play for Bayern!" said Tommy. "You know how much we could get saying that?"

"Except we can't play football," said Steiger.

"Sorry," said Tommy. His vibrating iPhone distracted him for a second. He looked at the text and chuckled.

It read: "RED HAWK PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY YOU INSULTED SCHNEEFEE –DER HAUPTMANN"

Tommy sniggered and wrote back, "CUZ SHE'S A BRAT".

Der Hauptmann must have been pissed off, because he got another text saying, "CONTINUE WITH THAT ATTITUDE AND YOU WILL NEVER BE ACCEPTED" Tommy sighed in frustration.

 _Great,_  he thought.  _Shouldn't Germany's Captain America be nicer? And why did I have to give him my phone number?_

"Hey Tommy, are you okay?" Kathrin asked, interrupting him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, closing the text message. At least the captain (their nickname for him) was nice to him (and he knew for a fact that Der Hauptmann is not Steiger. Der Hauptmann operates in Berlin)!

Tommy and Tom stumbled out of the brauhaus a little inebriated and leaning on a very unhappy Kathrin (who was also inebriated). "This is the lasht time I do this for you," she said.

"Yeah, yeah." He said.

"And shut up about U of M!" she said. "I had the option, I'm from Hamburg!"

"But you grew up in Chicago," said Tommy. He noticed a clown coming over to them with spiky red hair. The clown blew in Kevin's face and Tommy glared at the clown. " _Casse-toi_ ," he said.

" _Nein, nein,_ " the clown laughed. He seemed intent on making Tommy, Kevin and Kathrin's night difficult. But a clown should never piss off a buzzed American soccer player (and secret superhero) and Tommy shoved the clown away.

" _Fils de pute,_ " he muttered to the seething clown. However instead of following them, the clown smiled in a strangely psychotic way.

"I have to take a different tram," Kathrin said before they reached their tram stop. "I'll be fine."

"Sure," he said. She hugged him, blushing at the contact and happy to be near him. Tommy felt a little nervous, but that ended when they broke apart. They took different trams back to their respective apartments and boroughs.

Unfortunately for Tommy, his story is just beginning. This is just an introductory chapter. Things are about to go south...

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

End chapter


	2. Upgrade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schwertkämpferin appears and Tommy gets an upgrade for the Red Dragon suit, plus gets his first real fight against the washed-up Herr Tekno.

" _Why_  would you make Superman the bad guy!?" Tommy nearly shouted at Martin while the two were walking through the hallways of a University of Munich building. Several passers-by stopped but kept going. To them it looked like just another fight between two nerds (although one has some clear muscles).

Martin sighed in annoyance as if Tommy just committed a comic book sin. "Because he's so alien," said Martin. "His powers make it possible for him to take over the world!"

"But he's  _not_!" Tommy replied, walking backwards in front of his German classmate. "I mean, did you see the movie? He's never going to be like that, because he was raised to be a good person and a better savior than Jesus!"

"You don't see the big picture," said Martin. Tommy wiped his forehead, clearly frustrated with Martin's stubbornness.

"The one who I'd really be worried about is Batman," said Tommy. "Sure, he's cool and all, but what if he decided to take his vigilantism a little too far?"

"Why, are you considering that?" Martin asked in a hushed tone. He too, knows about Tommy's late-night activities.

"How can I?" Tommy asked with a hushed incredulous tone. "I have the same sense of goodness Superman and Captain America have! And besides, there's not much to be a vigilante in this city anyway."

"True," said Martin. "And how were you raised—"

"My dad's a Shotokan Karate black belt," said Tommy, "And my mom is a Wushu expert. You know about how martial artists always use their art for self-defense?"

"Of course," said Martin. He shoved Tommy out of the way and went back outside into the chilly Bavarian November.

Located primarily in the Schwabing borough of Munich, the University of Munich is this world's stand-in for Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich. Founded in the 1500s, it is one of Germany's best and largest public universities. Because about 15% of the 50,000-large student body is foreign, the university offers some courses in English. It's basically how Tommy is able to survive here. Of course, he does have to take classes in German, but since Martin is around, he acts as an interpreter for him.

Shivering, the two tried to find the bus to get back to the Studentenstadt, where their apartment is. "... I mean, how you feel if I made Der Hauptmann a bad guy in my own fanfic?" Tommy asked again while they were still waiting.

"I would not be happy," said martin. His tone was full of offense. "He is a paragon of moral goodness! He always does what is best!"

"Which is my point!" said Tommy. "I know it's tempting to make Superman the bad guy, but that goes against everything in his character! With Batman, there's a few shades of grey that you can mess with him, but not Superman!"

Martin was about to respond, but then thought about it. The look on his face meant that he realized, "You have a point." Success! Tommy pumped his fist in triumph. "However, you do need to get on Der Hauptmann's good side." Oh, damn.

"It's not like I haven't tried," Tommy moaned.

"Unfortunately, you keep talking back to the other established superheroes," said Martin.

"They keep treating me like shit," said Tommy. "And I keep talking back. It's a vicious cycle!"

"Then start making it better!" said Martin. "Here comes our bus now."

:-:-:-: Der Red Hawk :-:-:-:

One bus and U-Bahn ride later they arrived back at the Studentenstadt. Being a cold Novermber afternoon, there were very few students outside. The only ones outside were walking in between the buildings, presumably to meet with their friends. Everyone else seemed to be spending time in their residences to relax. There was an Occupy table on one part of the courtyard, but even they seemed uninterested, no thanks to the weather.

As mentioned in the last chapter, their building was a high-rise building. The author will not say which one it is, because the Intarwebs are of little help. However, the author will say that they lived in single apartments. Martin and Kevin happen to be Tommy's neighbors within their particular high-rise.

"I'm going to the gym later," Tommy said while he inserted his key into his door lock, "Going to hit the punching bag for a bit and maybe train with someone."

"Anything else?" asked Martin, "Maybe dinner with everyone else?"

"That sounds good," said Tommy.

His apartment has a  _wohnfläche_  of about 16 square meters, and although it's one room, it technically wasn't one room, since the bathroom is its own separate room, but who cares? He dropped his backpack on the ground and opened up his laptop. He looked out over the courtyard. A few people were walking in between the buildings.

He jumped when he felt someone tapping his shoulder. He looked around and glared at Martin, who had his hands up. "Take it easy," he said with a laugh. The American martial artist shook his head and turned around.

After logging onto the internet, he checked around while Martin grabbed a chair. There was a link that interested him and when he clicked on it, "Looks like there was another Schwertkämpferin sighting," he said.

"There was?" asked Martin.

"Outside the city last night," said Tommy. "And she seemed to be fighting the usual suspects."

"Does anyone actually help her?" asked Martin.

"Not even Der Hauptmann's been able to find out who she is," said Tommy. "She does work with other superheroes from time to time, but when they ask if she wants any help, she blows them off."

"Politely, of course," said Martin. Tommy sighed in annoyance. "For a young man raised with martial arts, you don't have great discipline."

"I know," said Tommy, "But I'm still human, not a robot. Besides, I'd prefer to be like Spider-Man when I go superheroing. It's much more fun."

"And another thing, if you're a martial artist, why are you naming yourself after a hockey team?"

"Because I like hockey," he replied. "My uncle played for the Hawks in the 90s, and I'd go see him."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Martin. "So what are you—" That was when Tommy got a call on Skype. Martin raised his eyebrow while Tommy answered it.

"Hello?" he asked.

" _KONNICHIWA, COUSIN!_ " A young man, around Tommy's age with pristine brown hair eagerly cheered on the other side of the screen. Martin recoiled, but then noticed Tommy sighing in annoyance.

" _Konnichiwa,_  Tsuyoshi," he said.

" _Why are you so unhappy to see me?_ " Tsuyoshi asked in thick Japanese accent with puppy dog eyes on the other side.

"Because you annoy me," said Tommy. As a preview, this guy will push the limits of Tommy's discipline.

" _But you are a Kung fu master, you should be—_ "

"Wushu, dummy! Wushu's the correct term! Kung fu is something you work on! And I'm not a master, either... at least not yet."

" _Then I have some great kung fu for you!_ " said Tsuyoshi.

"Um, Driscoll, who is he?" asked Martin.

"He's my cousin, Tsuyoshi Suzumiya," said Tommy.

"That's him!?" Martin shouted. "You mean the one who heads the Suzumiya Corporation?"

"Yes, him!" Tommy said again. "And kung fu is skill, Tsuyoshi, not a pet proje—wait, what?"

" _I have some upgrades for the Red Hawk suit_ ," saidTsuyoshi.

"Already?" asked Tommy. It's only the second chapter!

" _But of course_!" said Tsuyoshi. " _I have been working on it for The past month, and I wanted to show it to you before December! The old suit will not be fit for duty in December, and it's woefully obsolete by now._ "

"Where did he get the idea for this suit?" asked Martin.

"I think he was watching France Five," said Tommy. "It's a robotic exoskeleton with a nanofiber suit laid over it; it also comes with a computer that finds and analyzes my enemies, translates over 100 languages and diagnoses any injuries I have."

" _Just connect your iPhone and wrist device to you laptop,_ " said Tsuyoshi. Tommy shrugged and took out his iPhone, connecting it to the laptop. Then he did the same with the wrist device, which looked like a bracelet. Martin raised his eyebrows in intrigue while Tommy connected them both to his laptop.

"So why do you use an iPhone?" asked Martin.

"That's how it's activated," said Tommy.

" _The iPhone has an app that activates the suit, which is stored in the bracelet_ ," said Tsuyoshi, " _When Tommy turns on the app and shouts a voice command, it activates the suit_."

"So now what?" he asked.

" _Since the bracelet already contains the nanofiber that makes up the suit, I will download the new data to the device_." Tsuyoshi pressed a button on the other end. A light on the device lit up with the word "Upgrade" on it.

"So what's new?" asked Tommy.

" _Th_ _e suit will be sleeker_ ," said Tsuyoshi. " _And I have included some new weapons_."

"Weapons?" asked Tommy.

" _Lasers_ ," said Tsuyoshi.

"I like the sound of that," said Martin.

"So do I," said Tommy. "And you're sure I'm not on the Suzumiya payroll?"

" _I am paying you personally, after all_ ," said Tsuyoshi. " _If I have an electric car for you to test, I will gladly send it to you_."

"Yeah, that sounds nice," said Tommy. "So what will it look like?"

" _I am so glad you asked!_ " said Tsuyoshi. Tsuyoshi typed something up on the other end and an image of the new Red Hawk suit appeared on screen. Tommy noticed that Martin was laughing at the design.

"What?" he asked.

"Is that a skirt?" said Martin.

Tommy sighed in annoyance. "That is not a skirt," he said. "It's a shirt tail—kind of like on Red Robin's costume—and it looks like Tsuyoshi's been watching some hockey." He even pointed out a utility belt that blended in with the red.

" _But of course!_ " said Tsuyoshi, " _It ees a sleeker version of an ice hockey uniform, although zee boots change things_."

"It does look sleek," said Tommy. "I think of think the sleeker look is better. Anything else?"

" _There is a retractable faceplate,_ " said Tsuyoshi.

"Oh, a faceplate!" Tommy said with excitement. "Now I won't have to worry about getting my teeth knocked out!"

"You haven't had the need for a faceplate," said Martin. Tommy looked like he was about to his Martin in response, but that martial arts discipline made him stop. Martin really liked to push the American's buttons, testing his patience as many of you have probably observed.

"Oh, and there's no backpack thingie on the front!" said Tommy.

" _That is because the wings are not connected to the suit now. They will be teleported onto the suit_ ," said Tsuyoshi. He turned the 3D image of the costume and pointed out the still-visible backpack for the wings. " _Complete!_ "

"Sounds great," Tommy said while he disconnected the transformation device, "Can't wait to try this."

"When?" said Martin.

"Tonight," Tommy replied.

"And why don't you like Tsuyoshi?" asked Martin.

"Because he talks like that," Tommy replied.

:-:-:-: Der Red Hawk :-:-:-:

Dinner was at the Studentenstadt bistro. Tommy, Martin, Kevin, Dimitri and Kathrin all ate there, getting caught up on the day. Dimitri had managed to purchase five terrace tickets for the Bayern match this coming Saturday, something the quintet really appreciated (The hooting and hollering that interrupted peoples' dinner is a pretty good indication).

Kathrin had to leave early though, saying something about how she was busy. Everyone else shrugged, apparently uninterested in what she had planned. It didn't really matter, though. It was her personal life, after all. Why should they get involved unless the situation called for it?

Tommy hopped off a tram into the city centre, rubbing his hands. It was chilly out. His iPhone said it was probably going to get somewhere in the mid-to-low 30s today. His eyes scanned the area. There weren't many people around. It was a weeknight, after all. Germans are dedicated workers, they had a job to get to.

The streets were quiet. But that's the worst thing a superhero could want. Of course, given Tommy's still a rookie, he's still trying to change that line of thinking. In a way, he could wish for very little action if he wanted to be a different kind of superhero. But then again, Tommy's already a part-time superhero.

The advantage a Henshin hero has over a tradition cape-and-cowl superhero is that the Henshin hero can become a superhero in an instant. If an emergency arises, all they need to do is duck into an alley, transform, fight the bad guy and then transform back to his civvy garb. The traditional hero has to go out at night and look for trouble.

So as part of that, Tommy decided to just take a walk in the city with the lowest crime rate in Germany. He smiled while walking down the pedestrian zone between Marienplatz and Karlsplatz.

Man, he loved this city.

In a way, Bavaria is your stereotypical fairy tale region. Okay, part of that is the architecture, which heavily inspired Fantasyland at Disneyland (and Neuschwanstein, which inspired Sleeping Beauty Castle). But there's something about this place that Tommy's not quite able to put his finger on. Perhaps it was the murals on the buildings in Oberammergau.

Yeah, if only that fairy tale extended to supervillains. They didn't really seem to care about coming here. They were busy picking fights in Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt. Is the livability and low crime rate of Munich a turn-off for supervillains, or something? You'd think someone like Dr. Mengle (He's not the Nazi scientist, just a mad scientist influenced by him) would try to ruin whatever livability and low crime rate this city had.

That was when he noticed his iPhone vibrating. He stopped, reached into his pocket and pulled it out, giving it a look. His heart began to pound. His eyes widened. His face began to contort in excitement. It read, 'HERR TEKNO ATTACKING MARIENPLATZ.'

Okay, that became clear as soon as he noticed the crowd running around in surprise. He heard several people saying Herr Tekno's name, so this was not a drill. Immediately he sprung into action, ducking into a nearby alley.

He shook out his arms and legs, getting ready and psyched up. He opened the Red Hawk app and activated the bracelet. He made a bit of a move with his arm, bringing the iPhone to his ear and the bracelet up and shouted, "Red Hawk! Transform!"

In a flash of red light, he transformed into Red Hawk. He pressed his belt buckle. The wings popped out of his back pack and he jumped up onto the rooftop and raced for Marienplatz.

After hopping several roofs, he landed across from the New Town Hall. Herr Tekno's robot minions were running amok, wrecking the place and trying to barge their way into the Town hall. They were also going after bystanders. They had to be stopped and fast. A cackling madman was in the middle of all of them. Most real-life supervillains were cool. He, however, was like something out of a Golden or Silver Age comic book; pure silliness.

But he's still effective.

Red Hawk spread his wings and then jumped down into the square. "Hi, there!" he said. Herr Tekno and his robot minions turned around.

"Vat are you?" asked Dr. Tekno. "You look silly!" Of course, this is coming from a guy who's wearing the most ridiculous coke bottle glasses, wild hair and basically looked like your standard cartoonish mad scientist.

"My name's Red Hawk, I'll be your superhero this evening," he said. He'd been working on that for a while. "Your menu includes two choices. You can either surrender peacefully, or I can beat the snot out of you."

Herr Tekno was confused at first but then he started laughing. "Red Hawk!?" he said, "I've heard of you! The most unpopular superhero in Germany, is that correct?" Red Hawk growled in annoyance. "Robots,  _Achtung_! ATTACK!"

The robots swarmed and surrounded Red Hawk. That simplified his problem. He went to work immediately. A robot rushed in, chopping at him. He blocked the attack, kicked and then elbowed the robot in the back of neck. He kicked at another robot that had rushed in and tried to take him on. Two more robots rushed at him. He blocked, punched, kicked and chopped both of them down.

One robot snuck up behind him and wrapped its arms around him. He grabbed its arms and then tossed it in front, smashing a few others in the process. His HUD alerted him to two more. He jumped in the air and the two robots collided with each other. When he landed, he literally swept them off their feet, crouching down and sweep-kicking them all.

Two more robots rushed in, he extended his arms like wings and clotheslined them both. Just for the hell of it, he delivered a diving back elbow drop into both of them. Another two rushed in. He blocked their attacks with his feet, got up and fisted them away. More robots rushed forward. He knocked them all away, punching, blocking, kicking, et cetera. This battle was easy.

A robot rushed to try and tackle him. He jumped on top of it and onto a table. He kick-blocked another robot's punches and then jumped into air, extended his arms and delivered a flying clothes line to them all. Once he righted himself, he went back to regular martial arts techniques, simply reverse roundhouse kicking a pair of robot minions.

He looked at his handiwork—a horde of broken robot minions—for a second before rushing over to the New Town Hall. Herr Tekno had taken advantage of his fight with the minions and was helping (forcing) his other minions to open the door.

Now's the perfect time to use the laser cutter.

The instructions told him the laser was in his glove. Kinda like Buzz Lightyear. He raised his arm up and waited while his suit locked on. Once that was done, he pressed on his glove and a laser beam shot out from the glove. He tried to be precise, cutting up the minions, but purposefully missing Herr Tekno (he wanted to take him alive). The robots were diced up like carrots.

Naturally, Herr Tekno did not like this one bit. In a fit of rage, he rushed Red Hawk. Red Hawk put on his face mask (he'd forgotten to use that) as Herr Tekno rushed him.

Then he remembered Herr Tekno is a terrible fighter. So all he did was step out of his way.

He laughed as Herr Tekno slammed head-first into a table. "Hey! Toro!" he said once Herr Tekno recovered. Herr Tekno took the bait and rushed him. Red Hawk played the matador again and stepped out of the way. "Ooooo-LE!"

"Vat do you think you are, a matador?" Herr Tekno growled in a thick, Ah-nuld-like accent.

"You sound too much like Ah-nuld to be taken seriously," said Red Hawk. "Just give up!"

"NEVAH!"

Red Hawk shrugged. "Your funeral." Herr Tekno pressed a button on his suit. Four robot arms sprouted from his backpack. "Did you just rip off Doc Ock?"

"DIE, RED HAWK!" Herr Tekno shouted as he rushed Red Hawk.

On the other hand, Red Hawk was not impressed. He just raised his arm, pressed the button, and let his laser cutter do the work. He just cut off all four of the arms with very little precision (he's still trying to get used to it) and Herr Tekno landed on his backside. "Give up yet?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Herr Tekno bellowed. He got up and rushed Red Hawk, screaming like a crazed man.

Unfortunately, Red Hawk grabbed him by the crown of his head and held him off while he flailed his arms about. Red Hawk certainly did not look impressed, although he recognized that since Herr Tekno is the worst fighter of all the villains, he wasn't surprised.

He let go of Herr Tekno and watched him barrel into a table. Herr Tekno got back up and started flailing his arms at Red Hawk, but Red Hawk dodged each of them easily. Oh, Herr Tekno did land one hit, but that was a lucky one. He tried to kick Red Hawk, but Red Hawk caught the leg and ripped Herr Tekno's feet out from under him.

As Red Hawk stood over Herr Tekno, he simply looked at him and said, "Sorry." That was when he heard the sirens of the Polizei. It was time to leave. He bolted from the scene, leaving Herr Tekno to deal with the Bavarian State Police.

His heart was racing as he ran across the city's rooftops. His mind was racing even faster. He finally had a real superhero fight! All the months of looking for something to do had finally paid off! He was now a real, bona fide superhero! He hooted and hollered, kicked and cheered across the city rooftops. This was just the beginning! He was going to become a real superhero! Maybe now the bad guys will come after him!

He stopped when he noticed a hit on his HUD. Another bad guy! He pumped his fist and ran to the northeast to find the attacker.

He was disappointed to find it was Schwertkämpferin. But then he recognized barely anyone sees her, so this was a great chance! Her armor shone with an ethereal gleam. It didn't look like any human armor. It looked like an armor right out of a fantasy novel. She was fighting what looked like a troll, but he wasn't so sure.

He's not surprised to see a troll because he already knows fairies exist, after all.

But it looked like Schwertkämpferin was having trouble. The troll had her on the ropes. Perhaps it was a good idea if Red Hawk helped. He raised his arm up and took aim. He adjusted the settings on his laser and fired. The laser hit the troll, much to Schwert's confusion. When she looked at him, he saluted and said, "Don't give up!" before darting away.

A short time later he ducked into an alley and transformed back into Civvie garb. Tommy looked around, noticing no one was around, and made his way to the nearest U-Bahn station to return to the Studentenstadt.

When he got back, he was too tired to really do much. He just flopped back on his bed, but then remembered he had to change. He got up, changed into a pair of pajama pants and brushed his teeth before flopping back down on the bed—then getting back up and turning off the lights before he finally got to bed.

As he tried to sleep, his mind was awash with thoughts of what just happened. His first real superhero fight went pretty well. Sure, it was against a pretty bad enemy, but who cares? He'd just made a name for himself. He'd sent a message to all the villains: Come to Munich and you'll deal with me. He wasn't sure if he could really intimidate them, though, but perhaps if he built his reputation, then things might change.

Eventually his tiredness got to him and he fell asleep, dreaming of things to come.

:-:-:-: Der Red Hawk :-:-:-:


	3. The Prussian Villain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on "Der Roter Falke":
> 
> Tommy's benefactor and cousin, Tsuyoshi Suzumiya, gave him an upgrade to the Red Hawk suit, making it sleeker and adding a laser cutter weapon a la Buzz Lightyear. Using his new suit, Red Hawk defeated Herr Tekno, but that's easy, given Herr Tekno is not a very good fighter. While heading back to his apartment, he stopped to assist Die Schwertkämpferin from a far before going back to his apartment and getting some rest.

:-:-:-: Der Roter Falke :-:-:-:

The sound of loud heavy metal guitars rang. They played loud, fast and intense. The sound of the fingerstyle bass and double bass drums punctuated the sound. Pity the poor sap who's used to Taylor Swift who comes in and hears this music for the first time, even if the singer is singing about the exploits of great warriors and of unity. The first time hearing this type of music is awe-inspiring.

The guitars sounded like a razor-sharp crunch. The guitarists headbanged in unison with the bassist. The drummer pounded away, playing with a speed one would be amazed to see for the first time. The singer hit high, incredible notes you would be surprised to hear coming from a man.

Then, the guitarist started soloing. He played with such virtuosity you'd think he wasn't even trying. He played with a pick, he tapped on the fret board and even played with one hand. And when he was done, the next guitarist started playing. Then the two finished up with a twin harmony sure to get the crowd going.

... If there was one.

The place was empty, save for two other people watching the five-person band. Of course, they looked like they were enjoying themselves. Kevin took a sip of water while he watched, rubbing his leg and Tommy just laid back.

" _Danke!_ " the singer said when they were done. The band put down their instruments and stepped off stage. Martin, the guitarist, walked over to the two, who each had the Metal Horns proudly displayed above their heads.

"I hope you're not being sarcastic," said Martin.

"Come on, it was a good rehearsal!" said Tommy. Martin knocked him on the head before going back onstage and putting his guitar away. The other band members were also putting their stuff away. Naturally, the drummer was having some difficulty, but she looked like she was handling it just fine.

"Should we..." Kevin said before trailing off.

"No," said Martin. "She'll be fine. Let's go." He walked off (carrying his guitar case) in a huff. Dimitri (who's the second guitarist) followed suit, dragging them with him.

The sun was shining and it was actually a nice, relatively warm late November day. Tommy just had his Blackhawks jersey on over a hoodie while everyone else wore jackets. They had to wonder why he was so determined to expose himself as an American. In reality, that ship had sailed long ago when he wore a US Soccer jersey around town earlier in the year and no one seemed to give a fuck.

"What do you want to do next?" Dimitri asked in his light, but still detectable Ukrainian accent. The other three looked pretty unsure about their plans. It was a Friday, the day before they were scheduled to go to a Bayern match, so they were focused on t he football match.

"I don't know," said Kevin. "Perhaps we could go to a pub."

"That's for later in the evening," said Tommy. "Let's just head over to Marienplatz."

"Fair enough," said Kevin. "But you have to pay." The other two agreed with him, leaving Tommy to sigh in annoyance. He hated these guys sometimes.

:-:-:-: Der Roter Falke :-:-:-:

Tommy was surprised when he saw Marienplatz.

He hadn't been there in the two days since he fought Herr Tekno, but the place looked as if nothing had happened. That's German efficiency for you! He shrugged, seeing that it wasn't really a big deal. Perhaps now he might get a little recognition.

... If only Martin and Kevin agreed.

"It's Herr Tekno!" Martin chided after Dimitri (who is unaware of Tommy's superhero activities) walked off to go and order some soup. "That's like saying you won the European Championship by beating Ireland!"

"OI!"

"Sorry, Kevin. I meant, Iceland." Kevin leered at Martin, hoping he wasn't lying about his apology. Tommy sank back into his chair, groaning in annoyance.

"Come on, cut me some slack!" said Tommy. "It was only my first real fight!"

"I'm German!" said Martin. "I'm supposed to be frank! And to be frank, Herr Tekno is  _not_ a very impressive bad guy!"

"I said cut me some slack!" Tommy shouted, getting in Martin's face. "I'm a rookie superhero in the most livable city in Germany! I would like to fight stronger bad guys, but they don't show up! So stop with the German frankness and listen to me!"

"... Sorry," said Martin. A word of advice: if you're starting to feel put-upon by German aggressiveness and frankness, retaliate like Tommy just did. In Germany, courtesy and conflict avoidance (although that might be different for physical confrontation) is regarded as weakness (Source:  _Culture Shock: Germany._  Lord, 2008). (Of course, in Red Hawk's case, it's more that he's aggressive when he's  _not_ supposed to be, i.e., talking back to Der Hauptmann—in other words, plain, old-fashioned rudeness. Not a good idea.)

"What was your first fight?" asked Kevin.

"I beat up a neo-Nazi," said Tommy.

"And we walked in on you that night," said Martin. "You looked like we caught you with your pants down!"

"How else am I going to react?" said Tommy. "Oh, but I did help Schwertkämpferin."

"You did?" said Kevin, "How?"

"She was fighting a troll," said Tommy. "I just fired my laser at the troll and told her to keep fighting before stealing away."

"Why didn't you try to help her more directly?" asked Martin.

"To be honest, she looked like she had the situation under control," said Tommy. "Plus, I noticed something about magical girl anime." Schwertkämpferin is rumored to be a grown-up version of the Magical Girl Warrior character. "There's always this mysterious guy who protects her. Although in my case, she's more like a mysterious protectorate!" he laughed.

"You've been reading too much TV Tropes," said Martin.

"Again with the ridiculous criticism!" said Tommy. "I had to watch those shows when I was a kid, because Kathrin liked them."

"He probably liked them, too," said Kevin.

"I noticed the character of Tuxedo Mask in  _Sailor Moon_ ," Tommy continued, "All he does is throw a rose, distracts the enemy, says a few encouraging words and watches while Sailor Moon finished off the monster."

"Except in the manga, where he actually contributes." The trio were surprised to see Kathrin had snuck up on them and sat next to Tommy. "I didn't know you liked watching that show," she said teasingly.

"Well, whenever I was at  _your_ house or even at  _my_ house you made me watch it," said Tommy.

"That's because I  _knew_ you hated it," said Kathrin, pointing her finger in his face, "And because I wanted to turn you into a fan. Looks like I succeeded."

Kevin laughed while Tommy glared at him. "Did you come by yourself, Kathrin?" he asked while ignoring Kevin.

"No," she replied. "I brought a friend." Tommy suddenly saw someone shove a tape recorder in his face. The girl got all in his face and shouted,

" _Wer bist du und warum tragst das Hemd_?"

"Say what?" Tommy asked.

" _Sprechen Sie Deutsch_?" she said again, shoving her tape recorder in his face.

" _NEIN!_ " Tommy shouted. "Now get that out of my face!"

" _Guten Tag,_ Tanja," said Martin. " _Wie geht es dir?_ "

" _Danke, mir geht's gut!_ " she replied. She brushed her wavy dark red hair out of her face. "Hello, everyone!"

" _Hi, Tanja_ ," they replied as she took a seat next to her brother.

"Where is Dimitri?"

"I was about to sit down," he said. He carried some food for everyone from the nearby café. And he did not look happy. "You are sitting in my seat."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said. She got up and sat next to Tommy. Martin rubbed Dimitri's curly dark red hair in jest while he handed out everyone's lunch. "So what was everyone talking about?"

"We were teasing Driscoll about his love of  _Sailor Moon_ ," Martin cracked. That earned a look from Tommy, a dirty look that wasn't quite deadly but injurious.

"Speaking of which," said Tanja, who looked like a female version of Martin, but looked no older than 18, "Why are you wearing that shirt, Driscoll?" She whipped out a tape recorder and shoved it in his face. "Are you showing some relation to Red Hawk?"

"Because I'm a Chicago Red Hawks fan!" he replied. "And get that tape recorder out of my face, please! Do you think you're a journalist or something?"

"I am now!" said Tanja.

"... Say what?"

" _Die Studententishe Nachrichten_ ," she replied. "It's a newspaper—"

"I know what it is!" said Tommy. "I've read the English language version!"

"And now she thinks she's some great journalist," Kathrin joked.

"Who's the editor?" asked Kevin.

"His name is Omer Turan," said Tanja. "He's Turkish. Getting back to our topic, Red Hawk was here two days ago! What do you know about this?"

"What makes you think I know something?" Tommy denied. "Is it my hockey sweater? Are you prejudiced against hockey fans or something,  _huh_?"

"Who did he fight?" asked Kathrin.

"Herr Tekno," Dimitri laughed. Underneath the table, Tommy's fist was clenched. He knew what his Ukrainian friend was getting at.

"Her Tekno!?" Kathrin laughed. "Wow, he must have been desperate!"

"Well, since a lot of supervillains don't come here that often, maybe he had the 'beggars can't be choosers' attitude," said Tommy.

"But it's Herr Tekno!" said Kathrin. "Even the other villains hate his guts!"

"You know, I heard that if Herr Tekno used his technological genius for public benefit," Kevin interjected, "He might have been considered the next Steve Jobs."

"But he didn't," said Tommy. "He was a megalomaniac from the beginning."

"True," said Martin. "If he did anything right, he made people suspicious of robots."

"Hey!"

"Suspicious of robots?" Tommy asked, "Don't you watch movies? There's an anti-robot movie out every year!"

"Guys!"

"And another robot went loose in Calgary," said Kathrin.

"Hello-o-o!"

"Okay, I get it!" said Martin. "Why don't we—"

" _ACH-TUNG!_ " Tanja slammed her fist on the table, causing the group to jump back in their seats. "I'm sorry. But I just got an e-mail from my editor. He said Lord Preußen is coming tonight!"

"Lord Preußen?" asked Tommy, "Why'd he name himself after Prussia?"

"He's a monarchist," said Martin. "He wants to bring back the Kaiser... with himself as Kaiser. In other words, he's what you Americans call a blowhard."

"Is he any good?" asked Tommy.

"I just said he's a blowhard!" Martin replied. "He just wants to take over Germany! He's not going to succeed, anyway!"

"He nearly beat Der Hauptmann once," said Tanja. Tommy raised an eyebrow. So a guy who named himself after Prussia and nearly beat Der Hauptmann is coming tonight? This should be interesting, "Although Der Hauptmann was sick at the time."

... Aaaand, there goes that prospect.

"Lord Preußen!" Kathrin said with a laugh. "More like Lord Saupreiß!" Tommy laughed. Oh yeah, he knew what it meant.

"His plan has as much possibility happening as Italy has winning Euro 2012," said Tanja. "But who cares? I'M GOING TO BE THERE TO REPORT ON IT!"

"Sit down, little lady!" Martin said. "Leave that to the professionals!"

"No one is going to cover Lord Preußen!" Tanja replied, "Which is why  _I_ am going to do it!"

:-:-:-: Der Roter Falke :-:-:-:

When Tommy finished his homework that night, he stretched out and turned on the police scanner. A little bit of Deschamps technology translated the conversations into English, which made it easier for him. He listened intently, hoping the cops would mention something about Lord Preußen attacking. Wait, why the heck would he come to Munich? Prussians and Bavarians  _hate_ —oh, right. Okay, that makes sense.

Although it's not like Tommy really cares about Lord Preußen's politics. For one thing, the monarchy isn't coming back, and second, he's clearly just some idiot who's trying to take over Germany and is using a (severely) obsolete tactic, and third, Tommy just wants to send a message to the bad guys: I'm serious. Come and take me on, I'll take you down.

Oops, opportunistic superhero thoughts coming up. He got up and started to get into disciplined martial artist mode. Better do some Tai Chi.

So he got up, went to the middle of his apartment and got in a ready stance. He took a few deep breaths. In... out... in... out... When he was ready, he began his form.

He moved with grace and precision. He was soft, but firm; slow and steady. His moves were taught to him by his mom to help relax. She used them herself, sometimes incorporating them into her Wushu technique. There's nothing wrong with combining styles, after all.

He felt his heart beat slowing down; just what he wanted. He struck at invisible enemies—stress demons, if you want to put it that way. The demons were no match for his Tai Chi skill. They fell one by one, screaming in pain. Okay, Tommy's imagination is getting a little too overactive. He forgot about the stress demons and focused on his precise movements. That was all that mattered right now.

Suddenly, he heard pinging coming from his iPhone. He ran over and checked. It read, "LORD PREUßEN SPOTTED IN ENGLISHER GARTEN".

Englisher Garten? That's right next to the StuSta! He quickly grabbed his bracelet and rushed out—oops, forgot a jacket! Okay, now he had what he needed—oh, forgot to turn off the lights. Now—lock the door! He had to rush out of the building, putting his jacket on while nearly running into several passers-by and almost crashed into somebody as he ran out of the building.

:-:-:-: Der Roter Falke :-:-:-:

Tommy ran through the massive park, looking for any sign of Lord Preußen. It shouldn't be hard to find a joke of a villain looking like something out of the Golden Age of Comic Books wearing white & black while wearing a spiked helmet. Hell, with all the open spaces, he should stick out like the proverbial sore thumb! Oh wait, it's night. It's not like—

Gunshots? Where are they—ooohh, that might help! They sounded like they were coming from the southwest, near the restaurant. He rushed through the trees (okay so it's not as easy to find the guy) and managed to find him, shooting at the air, shouting something in German.

He had to wait for the right moment to appear. He found the app he needed and looked for the right chance to transform. He was going to—

Oh, no. Someone was here, hiding among the trees, too. He had to move. The bright flash of light would draw their attention. Hell, they shouldn't even  _be_ here! But it's not like he can just tell them to leave! It'd attract suspicion! He moved in among the trees again.

He activated the app. "Red Hawk! Transform!" One flash of light, and if this were on TV, one overly-elaborate transformation later, he'd transformed into Red Hawk.

He found his chance. He ducked back out from the trees. "GET OUTTA HERE!" he shouted to the person in the trees while rushing out into the green clearing.

He walked up to Lord Preußen, who had his back turned to him. He needed to get his attention. He raised his arm and pressed on his laser cutter. A red laser beam shot out from his arm, right past Lord Preußen's head. That got his attention.

He turned around. Oh yeah, we wore the spiked helmet, alright. His uniform was white and black, a black eagle on his chest. " _Wer sind Sie?_ " he shouted in very formal German.

"Good evening, my name's Red Hawk, I'll be your superhero tonight," he replied. "You have two choices: One, you can surrender peacefully. Two, you fight and lose."

Lord Preußen looked confused before he started laughing—not evilly, but condescending. "I've heard of you!" he said in laughably heavily-accented German. "You're that Red Hawk  _mensch_ , aren't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Why are you so proud of beating Herr Tekno when it was obvious he was a veakling! You not a very good Superhero, are you?"

Red Hawk got ticked off, a comical cross-popping vein appeared on his head (oh, wait, this isn't an anime). "Oh, and you're a criminal mastermind?" he shot back.

"I will bring back the greatness zat is Prussia and save Germany from itself!" said Lord Preußen.

"Yeah, yeah, all I heard was 'I'm a typical comic book supervillain' and a bad Kaiser Wilhelm impersonator." He noticed Lord Preußen walking up to him and taking off his glove. Then he felt the sting of a leather glove on his cheek. "Did you just slap me?"

"You have dishonored me!" said Lord Preußen. "Now you must challenge me to a duel!"

Red Hawk scoffed. What is this the 19th Century? "Okay," he said, just to humor him. "I challenge you to a duel, whatever."

"Then ve take ten paces!" He turned around and started counting, taking each step. Just to play along, Red Hawk did the same thing. He turned around.

"Okay, so now what?"

Lord Preußen lifted his gun in the air. "Oh, is that a Luger?" Red Hawk asked, getting interested. "I've never seen one before, can I—"  _BANG!_ He looked down. "Did you just shoot me?"

"Vat are you—"

"You just shot me!" Red Hawk shouted again. "Are you fucking serious?!"  _Bang! Bang! Bang!_  "HEY! Stop shooting me!"

"What are you vearing?!" Lord Preußen shouted.

"It's bullet-proof!" Red Hawk shouted. "Well, now that you've shot me, I'll have to fight back!" In an instant, he launched himself and Lord Preußen. The Kaiser wanna-be didn't get his shot off. Red Hawk jacked him right in the cheek, sending him sprawling on the ground. "You done?"

Lord Preußen grabbed his cheek. For some dude who dressed like a Prussian military officer and sounded like Inspector Kemp, he didn't look very old (although the Kaiser mustache made him looked older). He chuckled. "I underestimated you American," he said. "You are obviously a very good fighter."

"I learned from my parents," he said. He grabbed Lord Preußen. "Man, Der Hauptmann was right when he said you were a joke! You gonna surrender?"

" _Nein_ ," he replied. He grabbed Red Hawk and pulled him down onto the ground. Then he stomped on his back. "These  _Bayernschweine_ are going to see how Lord Preußen operates!"

Red Hawk arched his back to get him off him. He rolled away and got back up, throwing a punch.

Wait, Lord Preußen blocked it? Then he threw a punch at Red Hawk. He felt Preußen's leather fist connect with his cheek. That hurt! "Ow!"

"I assume you heard I almost beat Der Hauptmann, correct?" he asked.

"Damn," he said. He nearly forgot about that. He wiped some blood off his lip. Then he covered his face with his retractable faceplate. He shook himself out. It was on now. "Let's do this!"

He lunged at Lord Preußen, throwing a punch. Lord Preußen blocked it, throwing another punch. Red Hawk blocked that one as well. Then he elbowed him in the face. Preußen stumbled backwards, but ducked when Red Hawk threw another punch. Then he grabbed Red Hawk's arm and punched him in the gut.

Red Hawk stumbled backwards, holding his gut. He was strong! He looked at him with his HUD. Apparently, the guy had some muscle underneath his costume. Red Hawk flexed his fingers again and rushed Lord Preußen.

Lord Preußen blocked Red Hawk's punch. Red Hawk then delivered a reverse roundhouse kick that knocked Lord Preußen down. Lord Preußen responded by sweep-kicking Red Hawk out from under his own two feet. He saw the sole of Preußen's boot coming down on him but he lifted his leg and kicked Preußen in the behind. Preußen stumbled, but Red Hawk jumped up and landed in a tree.

" _SAUPREIß!_ " he shouted. " _Damischer Saupreiß!_ " Lord Preußen growled and pulled out his Luger. He fired a couple more shots, but Red Hawk jumped out, pressed his belt buckle and his wings popped out of his backpack. He swooped down and kicked Lord Preußen right in the chest, sending him rolling across the green. "How was that?" he asked. "Are you getting tired yet?"

"You do realize I come from the shame project zat birthed Der Hauptmann, correct?" he asked.

"That I did not know," said Red Hawk. Preußen got back up and rushed Red Hawk. Red Hawk grabbed Lord Preußen's fist and retaliated with a knee to the gut. Then he took his fists and slammed them into the back of Lord Preußen's neck.

"Ow," he groaned. "For an American, you are a spirited fighter." That earned a kick from Red Hawk.

"Shut up," he said. "Or else, I'll invoke my Native ancestors and  _really_ pound you."

"Oh, you're a Redskin!" Preußen taunted. "I did not know veins could appear like that."

"What did you just call me?!" Red Hawk growled. "Say it again, I dare ya!"

"Rrreeedskiiiinnn." Lord Preußen said again. His face met Red Hawk's fist.

"Don't call me that, you racist 19th Century _fil-de-pute_!" He stomped on Lord Preußen's head. "No wonder everyone hates you, you were born in the wrong century!"

"Is there anything wrong with zat?" Preußen asked.

"A lot!" Red Hawk replied. He kicked at Preußen's head, but the Prussian wanna-be rolled out of the way. Preußen then charged right at Red Hawk, which made him deliver a powerful side kick to Preußen's solar plexus.

Preußen tried to stay on his feet, but Red Hawk's kick was too strong. He collapsed onto his back. The fight was over.

Red Hawk walked over to him and rolled him onto his stomach. He restrained Lord Preußen's arms and then tied his wrists and ankles together with string made from the same material that makes his suit that he got from his utility belt. "Stay here, will you?"

" _Ja_ ," he replied. Red Hawk patted him on the shoulder before standing up.

That was when he got another hit on his HUD. He looked and found out who it was. "Schwertkämpferin!" he said. "I'm sorry, but I gotta go!" He ran off, right as the police sirens could be heard.

Not too long later, he found Schwertkämpferin. She was locked in battle with several bad guys who looked like the elves in  _Lord of the Rings_. Red Hawk didn't really think much about it. All he could see was that she needed help. The elvish-looking characters had her pinned down and ready to deliver the final blow.

His targeting computer activated immediately. He looked for the right chance. There it was! He raised his arm and pressed the laser button on his glove. He let off two shots, one that knocked the sword out of the hands of both elves. When Schwertkämpferin looked, he stepped out from behind the tree and gave her a little salute. "I thought you needed some help!" he said.

"You need not concern yourself with my battles," she replied in her authoritative alto.

Red Hawk scoffed as she went back to fighting the elves. A little "thank you" would suffice. However, he didn't concern himself with that and simply darted off, back to the StuSta, de-activating his suit in the process. Now that Lord Preußen was taken care of, perhaps now he might be able to get the respect he deserves.

:-:-:-: Der Roter Falke :-:-:-:

End chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if anyone is offended by Lord Preussen, but let me explain: Lord Preußen is a parody of Golden Age comic book supervillains that appeared during World War II like the Red Skull. However, instead, he’s comical and more of what would happen if comics had World War I bad guys. So really, he’s espousing values that are out of date and unwelcome in modern society whether in America, Germany or wherever. If it helps, he's offensive in-universe, too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on "Der Roter Falke":
> 
> After beating Herr Tekno, Tommy is teased by Martin and Kevin because Herr Tekno is not a very good villain. However, Martin's sister Tanja notifies him (by accident) that the villain Lord Preussen is coming to town. Red Hawk confronted Lord Preussen in the English Garden where he was able to take down the Kaiser wanna-be and then helped Schwertkämpferin defeat her elvish enemies. However, she asked that he not help her out again.

:-:-:-: Der Roter Falke :-:-:-:

Saturdays were always a great day. It's especially a great day when you get to go see the most successful and popular football club in all of Germany, FC Bayern Munich, of whom the author is a supporter/follower (so beware some bias here).

Today, out favorite group of college students are on a party bus filled with English-speaking supporters heading for Allianz Arena, the club's ultra-modern stadium, which opened in time for the World Cup in 2006. Today, FC Bayern are playing the hated Borussia Dortmund in a German Clasico matchup. Needless to say, our group is getting themselves pumped up. How you might ask? Well, the way football supporters always get pumped:

They sing.

" _Build a bonfire_  
Build a bonfire,  
Put the PRUUUUSSIANS on the top!  
Put the Nuremberg in the middle  
And we'll burn the fuckin' lot!"

"Fuck that song!" said Martin. That only earned a couple of raised eyebrows from the students on the bus. "Oi, Tommy! I just came up with a new one!"

"How does it go?" asked Tommy. "Everyone SHUT THE HELL UP!!!" Silence fell over the party bus. Martin took a moment, thinking of some words, and then started to sing to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".

" _When Muller left, everybody said the end was nigh,_  
When Ollie left as well, they said to us you'll cry.  
We're champions of Europe and of Deutschland, that's no lie!  
And still the nay-shun siiings!"

"I think I know this one!" said Tommy. Immediately he started to lead everyone else in singing,

" _Whooo the fuck are Bayern MUUUn-chen?_  
Whooo the fuck are Bayern Muunn-chen?  
Whooo the fuck are Bayern MUUUN-chen?  
As the Reds go marching, ON! ON! ON!"

"Hey, didn't I hear some Manchester United supporters singing that?" asked Kathrin.

" _Kathrin, you're no fun anymore_!" Martin whined in German.

" _I was being blunt, Werner_," she replied in German, mockingly emphasizing the "Werner".

"See, this is where I regret not learning German," Tommy said to Kevin.

"Same here," said Kevin. "By the way, you haven't told us about the fight with the Prussian bloke," he said in a low whisper.

"He was actually kinda difficult," Tommy said in an equally hushed whisper. "Turns out he came from the same program that created Der Hauptmann. I've found out he's the only other successful subject. The other ones all failed to keep their Super soldier-ness."

"There goes that plot," said Kevin, "And what about the swordswoman?"

"I'm not sure if I'm going to help her," said Tommy. "After I helped her, she rudely told me to go away. She could have at least thanked me and asked me not to help her."

"Are you going to stay away from her and throw a 'hissy fit'?" asked Kevin.

"I'm going to stay away from her because she's obviously ungrateful," said Tommy.

"And the Prussian bloke?"

"Again?" Tommy asked. "Are you kidding me? The guy was such a caricature  _I_  was offended!"

"Says the superhero who sounds like a Hannibal Lecter movie OR some bad Welsh nationalist hero!" Kevin stage-whispered.

"That's what caused all the confusion in the first place," Tommy groaned. A quick glance outside the bus turned into a wide smile as he saw what was coming. "We're here!" Looking like a massive glowing red inflatable boat, the façade of the Allianz Arena rose in the distance. Much of the singing ended with cheers before another song began to rise from the throats and mouths of the bus riders.

" _FC Bayern, Stern des Sudens,_  
Du wirst niemals untergeh'n!  
Weil wir in guten wie in schlechten Zeiten  
Zueinander steh'n!"

"DORTMUND!!!" One party-pooper in the crowd shouted out, drawing boos and jeers from the overwhelmingly pro-Bayern bus riders.

Several people stopped as the bus stopped, but kept walking by. They barely noticed when someone wearing a Borussia Dortmund shirt exited the bus while giving obscene gestures to everyone else. They were fine, really. They were close enough to the stadium to walk.

The group departed the parked bus for the stadium, still singing and chanting. Martin had to pass out the tickets and tried his best to give out instructions. "We're sitting in the terrace section, so please stick together until then—not now, Tanja—and once the match is over, we'll meet here 15 minutes after the end of the match! The bus will leave without you!"

" _Are you done yet_?" asked a wayward voice.

" _JA!_ " he shouted angrily. He sighed and said, "Let's go."

In the changing world of European club football, where the almighty Pound/Euro is king, in the Bundesliga, the fan is the emperor. Unlike in England, where a Russian oil baron or Arab oil Sheik can just buy a club and even change their history on a whim, in Germany, fans own 50 + 1% of the club. The competition is exciting and the parity is near American-level. And while English fans have been silenced, German fans are loud and passionate. This is a rich league that does everything right.

Still, FC Bayern are the big guns of the Bundesliga. Even in a time when they're not as strong as they usually are, expect them to make news, and it's not just on the pitch. But within this story, Bayern are, while not as good as they usually are, making headlines  _on_ the pitch. And Tommy is excited for a very particular reason:

"I get to see an American!" he said excitedly while buying some  _wurst_ and beer. Yes, an American who's supposed to be one hell of a shot from the midfield. This is not his story, but he's one this author has used before. "You know what I like best about him, Martin?"

"What?" asked the German.

"He's a serious player!" said Tommy. "He's not that pretty—handsome, though—and he's no prima donna!"

"Shut up, Driscoll," said Martin, uninterested in Tommy's gushing over the player. But Tommy's enthusiasm, while not fanboy-level, was not to he hampered by an uninterested Martin.

Tommy's gushing continued until they came out of the concourse and beheld the sights and sounds of Allianz Arena. It was a sea of red, save for a section of yellow and black-clad Borussia Dortmund supporters. While the PA announcer's voice echoed through the stadium, it was drowned out by the loud and passionate singing of the Bayern supporters in the Sudkurve.

The supporters were waving large flags and banners in the Sudkurve. This, combined with the passionate singing of the fans, floored Tommy the first time he ever came to a Bayern match. He wasn't even a soccer fan until he came to Germany. Now he's just as football-mad as the entirety of Germany. This is what modern football  _should_ be.

Alright, that's enough gushing over the Bundesliga. Tommy and Martin squeezed back into the terrace row where everyone else was standing. Football terraces are concrete steps where fans can watch the match while standing up. They're all but extinct in England, Spain, France and Italy, but Germany has found a way to keep them and make them safe. Again, this is Bundesliga gushing.

So the match went as expected... if you're a Bayern fan.  _Die Roten_ controlled possession for much of the match, although Dortmund kept things interesting and scoreless for much of that match until the 60th minute where the American, Scott McCarthy, got a long lob that the Dortmund goalkeeper misplayed and shot from beyond the penalty arc, into the upper left-hand corner of the net and sending the Allianz Arena crowd insane.

The Sudkurve terrace had become a veritable mosh pit after the goal, even though the barriers put in place prevented any big problems. Tommy was being pushed and shoved around by other supporters and it was so loud he couldn't hear the music. But he could hear the PA announcer shouting the name of the player who scored.

" _... Mit der nummer Dreiundzwanzig, Scott!_ "

" _MCCARTHY!!!_ " The thousands shouted back in their impassioned multitudes.

" _SCOTT!_ "

" _MCCARTHY!!!_ "

" _SCOOOOTTT!!!_ "

" _MCCARTHY!!_ "

" _FC Bayern—_ "

 _"EINS!_ "

" _Borrusia Dortmund,_ "

" _NULL!!_ "

" _Danke!_ "

" _BITTE!_ "

"YOU-ESS-AY! YOU-ESS-AY! YOU-ESS-AY!" Tommy shouted in the stands, to nobody's concern. The lack of response from the fans made him stop his silly bragging and go back to watching the match.

After the match was over, a happy bunch left the stadium chatting about their favorite moments in the match. Tommy wanted to get McCarthy's autograph, but it was a no-go. They had a set time to leave, much to his dismay. Oh well, he could probably go to the training sessions at the FC Bayern headquarters.

"Martin!" Tanja's interruption caught his attention. He almost bumped into a pillar in the midst of this. "It's about Red Hawk," she said in English.

"What?" asked Martin.

"My editor told me someone calling himself 'The Herald' has condemned him," said Tanja.

"And this is important, why?"

"I'm trying to be serious here!" she shouted at her older brother, "And I tried to tell you earlier, but you blew me off!"

"And why is it important?" Martin asked

"Then FUCK YOU!" Tanja replied, pushing her brother into a man who was still drinking his beer and get him and the older  _mensch_ soaked with the sudsy stuff. Martin spent the next ten minutes trying to explain to the man that it was an accident. It wasn't funny for him, but everyone else found it hilarious.

:-:-:-: Der Roter Falke :-:-:-:

Tommy was not one to let good information go unnoticed, especially if it was unsolicited and just thrown out there without him asking. So, once he got back to the Studentenstadt, he went straight to work on finding out who this Herald fellow was. He sounded vaguely religious, but he couldn't quite be certain.

This Herald fellow sounded very interesting. A quick Google search wasn't exactly fruitful, though. Actually a pretty good idea giving yourself a pretty generic name so that a Google search would fail.

But, there's still the Deutches Helden Bund website. Oh, infodump time: The Union der Helden is the German superhero union, kinda like the Justice League or the Avengers crossed with the Teamsters or AFL-CIO. Tommy took out his superhero license and put in his superhero union ID number into the log-in so he could go to the supervillain database. No, Tommy's civilian identity is not registered with the German government.

These superheroes were smart enough that when the bill for the superhero registration act was floating around the Bundestag that they said they'd go with the bill only if the government did not require that they reveal whom their civilian identities were. To prevent one civilian from using two aliases, they had the superheroes register their civilian identities with the Union and  _only_ the Union. Once the superhero's civilian identity is registered with the Union, only their superhero identity will be registered with the government.

And like typical German bureaucracies, it's difficult to deal with.

"Bingo!" Tommy said once he found some information about The Herald. The man is Lithuanian, and apparently leads an anti-superhero cult. But that was about it. Tommy lightly banged on the table in frustration.

"What's the situation?" Tommy almost jumped out of his seat but when he saw Martin he nearly lost it.

"Goddammit Martin, don't scare me like that!" he said.

"Nah, it's fun!" said Martin. "What is it?"

"The Union has some info on that 'Herald' guy Tanja was talking about," said Tommy.

"You're following her lead?" Martin asked.

"Is that bad?"

"Well..."

"Any information is good information," said Tommy. "The guy's from Lithuania and apparently leads an anti-superhero cult called The Illuminati. Nothing to do with the idiotic conspiracy theory, by the way. Other than that, they got nothing."

"Really?" Martin shoved Tommy out of the way, only for Tommy to do the same.

"Hey, this is for superhero eyes only!" said Tommy. "Even if you do know I'm Red Hawk!"

"But you just told me about The Herald," said Martin.

"Because your sister warned me about him," said Tommy. "Some brother you are!"

"Are you going out tonight?" Martin asked to change the subject.

"No, I'm tired," said Tommy. "And I have an essay due on Monday that I need to get done, so get the hell out of my apartment!"

Martin held his hands up and backed out of the one-room apartment, closing the door while giving a ridiculous smile all the while. Tommy turned back to his laptop, but spun back around to discourage Martin from coming back in. "What did I just say!?" Martin hastily slammed the door. Tommy got up to walk over to the door and lock it. "Asshole."

He grabbed a beer from the fridge. It was an Anheuser-Busch Budweiser, not the Budweiser that came from the city of Budweis in the CzechRepublic. Getting this brand of beer was hard. Not as hard as dealing with German bureaucracies, of course. The amount of time it took for him just to get this apartment was so bad he almost didn't come back. Speaking of which, his mom wanted him to graduate in Madison.

Perhaps operating in Madison might be easier than in Bavaria. He'd be a little more respected, at least.

Great, now he was homesick for Madison of all places. Better look at the Union website again. Perhaps a look at Schwertkämpferin might be interesting...

... If there was anything. She wasn't even a Union member!? Okay, there was some information about the elves she fought. Apparently, she only fought  _one_ faction of elves, and the rest were of no interest.

Elves, of course, existed. And like humans, there was no single unified kingdom, or whatever, just a loose group of federations, minor kingdoms, petty fiefdoms and republics sprinkled all over the world, mostly in remote areas like the Outback, the Andes, the Alps, Central Asia, the Rocky Mountains, the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming and Indiana. And yes, they can be as insufferable as your garden-variety fantasy elves.

In fact, Tommy could've sworn there was an elf in one of his classes, since that person was not only inhumanly gorgeous, they acted like  _they_ were the professor and constantly interrupted the guy.

OH! And they were also technically humans, AKA  _Homo Quendi_ , since humans and elves are pretty similar not just in terms of appearance, but genetically. They're still the real deal, kinda like Terry Brooks's elves. Yes, they can be genetically similar to humans will still being actual elves, because this is fantasy and science fiction, and the author can do whatever they want, NEENERNEENERNEENER.

And yes, they fucking hate dwarves, too. Humans, sadly, are caught in the middle of these two dumb species acting out some silly grudge out of a bad RPG.

Traditional disclaimer that elves are to be judged on an individual basis and that for every smug elf, there's probably a humble elf. Also, elf states have their own cultures, etc. In short, you cannot judge an entire species by a stereotype, just like you can't judge an entire country, race or ethnicity by stereotype.

The beeping on his computer stopped his train of thought. Someone was calling him. He quickly checked and saw it was the Superhero Union (HELLO!)

 _Roter Falke_ , the message read. It was from Der Hauptmann himself, too!  _We have detected activity hear Mayor Olbermann's residence, not too far from your student apartment. We need you to investigate as soon as possible._

_Der Hauptmann._

Tommy didn't even think twice before he jumped out of the chair and raced out of his apartment.

He transformed upon reaching the top of the high-rise. He pressed his belt buckle, the Hawk wings spread out from the back and he took off. His HUD immediately searched for Mayor Olbermann's place. It was perhaps two kilometers to the southwest, and it would take him just two minutes to fly there.

From above, it didn't look like much, just a few guards in a stand-off with the cops. Just because they weren't doing anything didn't mean that it was peaceful on the inside, however, and Tommy had to make sure he landed quietly so as not to attract any attention. He kept himself out of sight behind a chimney and waited until the right time to jump off the roof and into the house.

Once inside, he pressed on the side of his helmet to start the scan mode. He could see a number of bad guys patrolling the house on all three floors, and what looked to be someone—

"YOU THERE!"

He turned off the scan and turned towards two men wearing masks and dressed in strange ropes walking towards him. "Who are you?"

"Good evening!" Tommy replied. "My name's Roter Falke, or Red Hawk, and I'll be your superhero tonight!"

The two looked at each other and pulled their weapons out. "IT'S HIM!" the lead one shouted.

Tommy took a deep breath and sighed. And as soon as the both of them shot at him, he rushed forward, elbowing the one on his right in the head and kicking the one on the left in the back. While the one on the right dropped like a sack of potatoes, the one on the left was still up, so he rushed Red Hawk. The superhero braced himself and waited. And once the guard got up to him, he punched the bad guy right in the cheek.

The minion went down easily.

He could hear the person on the other end of the radio shouting. That is, until he stepped on the radio to crush it.

:-:-:-: Der Roter Falke :-:-:-:

To be continued...


	5. Infiltrate

Tommy was in.

Two passed-out bad guys lay in front of him and he lifted his boot off the smashed walkie-talkie. Nobody came to investigate. So far, so good. He could hear the sounds of other voices echoing throughout the house, which was not only a rather recent construction, but about the size of an American McMansion, so it wasn't very big. Still, judging by the screams and shouts coming from all around the house, it might take him a while to get to the mayor and his family.

Still, he had the element of surprise and he was going to use it. He cracked his knuckles and started to make his way through the mansion.

First he ran up to the second floor. There he ran into the third of the bad guys who were crawling around. But the bad guy didn't see him, and when Tommy ducked back into another room, the person kept walking without noticing the Red Hawk. He sighed in relief. He moved out of the corner and began to stretch himself out just a little bit. As far as he knew, there was no alert to his presence, nor any suspicion over what had just happened.

Didn't mean he had time to get complacent. He could be spotted at any time and they'd be on him faster than he could react. He decided he'd take the initiative and go after them instead of waiting for them to come to him. It's not very martial artist-like of him, but they'd already started it. But he chastised himself for thinking that way and decided on a different plan. He'd give them the usual chance to surrender and if they didn't—which he didn't expect them to do—he'd kick their butts.

His HUD flashed an alert. GET MOVING, it read. He started to run. He ran up to the second floor. There was no one around. His HUD switched to the X-ray mode. He could see there were at least twenty attackers in the house, most of which were on the third floor. One of the rooms, possibility the master bedroom, was filled with people. But the X-ray could not identify the mayor or anyone else. For all he knew, they were just there to distract him.

There was the sound of a crash to his left. He found out too late that he was indeed spotted as an attacker, wearing the same mask as the attackers he just dealt with, whipped out his walkie-talkie. "We're under attack! It's the Red Hawk!" he said in an accent that indicated he was from England.

Tommy sprang into action just as the attacker pulled out his gun and shot him twice. Both shots missed, but they were as useless as a Magikarp's Splash attack, anyway. Tommy jumped and threw a hard Superman punch at the man. To his surprise, he felt a hard surface under the mask, even though the attacker went down. The attacker's quick recovery confirmed his suspicions that he may just be wearing something underneath that mask Tommy proceeded to kick him in the solar plexus, which only knocked him backward. Again, he could feel the body armor, this time under his boot heel.

" _Roter Falke_ ," the Union spokesperson, or whatever the fuck his title was, said through his in-suit communicator. " _What is going on? What just happened?_ "

"I think they're wearing body armor," he replied. He heard the spokesperson growling on the other end of the line.

He couldn't talk as the attacker stood up and rushed at him again. He ducked and punched the man on the jaw, putting all his strength into the punch this time. The man's head collided with the wall, and he fell to the ground.

Tommy took a deep breath to regain his focus and kept going. There was a flight of stairs in front of him, which he climbed with haste. Another enemy ran up to the landing and got into a fighting position. But instead of attacking Tommy and knocking him down the stairs, he did not move. Tommy saw his opening. At the top of the stairs, he dove for the man's legs and knocked him down. The attacker got back up and lunged for him, but Tommy jumped out of the way and watched as he fell down the stairs. He was relieved to see the man apparently unhurt, though suffering from a leg injury. At least it wasn't the neck injury Tommy was worried about.

He ran down the hall, checking in some of the rooms for hostages. Most of them were empty. He turned a corner and found himself facing those enemies he'd found earlier. "Crap," he said to himself. upon being spotted by his enemies. A few of them wore the masks and armor. Said armor was white, with bits of grey and black here and there, mainly on the neck, on the sides, and on their boots. Their masks were half-covered with markings on the left sides of their faces.

"IT'S HIM!"

The enemies came right for him. He put his dukes up and punched the first one. He felt the hard plastic-like substance of a helmet under his punch. The attacker staggered backwards momentarily before rushing at him again. Red Hawk ducked and punched him in the gut. The next enemy swiftly reverse-roundhouse kicked him. He gasped as he felt the blow to his sternum and his back hit the wall. But he grabbed the attacker's leg and hooked the man's leg. Then he swept the opponent off his feet—literally!

His frustration boiled over and he bowled into the enemies shoulder-first. His opponents all fell about the hallway in a tangled heap. He laughed, and took advantage of the confusion to move on. He heard some of his enemies getting back up behind him, but it didn't matter to him. They were going to be stepping all over themselves trying to get to him.

He looked for hostages in some of the rooms. They were empty. Well, most of them.

He was halfway through the hall when he opened the door to a kid's room. As he stood there in the doorway cursing his rotten luck, he heard a noise. It sounded like a sneeze. The bed was on the left side of the room, and he could see little bits of a hand underneath it. As he looked around, he could tell that he wasn't going to fool whomever was in here. But the light was off. The room's occupant might in fact have already gotten adjusted to the darkness, they might not have. Whomever it was, it was likely they were not the bad guys.

"Good evening," he said. "I'm the Red Hawk, I'll be your superhero tonight."

" _Geh weg!_ " a young voice replied.

Tommy closed the door and turned the light on. He wasn't going to play around. "I can see you," he said. "Come out." He removed his helmet and some of his hair stood up. The person under the bed tried to slink further back under the bed, but Tommy was not fooled.

In two strides, he was across the room and lifted the foot of the bed up to reveal an approximately-11-year-old boy looking up at him angrily. The kid lunged at him, but he held his hand out and stopped him by holding down his head. "Give up kid," he said.

" _ **Is' mir scheißegal!**_ **the kid replied.**

**"LANGUAGE," Tommy replied. "Okay, you understand English. What's your name?"**

**"Alex Werner," he replied.**

**"Are you the Mayor's kid?" Tommy asked. Alex nodded. Tommy knelt down to the youngster, putting on his concerned expression. "So what happened?"**

**"Someone rang the doorbell," Alex started. "Our butler opened the door and these men with guns and weird outfits burst into our house, and they were yelling things. I ran into my room to hide. And, that's all I know."**

**Tommy nodded, turned towards a sound outside the door and back to the kid. "Why didn't you try to escape?"**

**"I was scared," he replied.**

**"Good point," Tommy said. He walked over to the window and looked down at the street below. "How high up are you?"**

**"Not that high," Alex replied.**

**"I'm gonna get you out of here," said Tommy.**

**Alex flinched in surprise and stared at him like he was insane. "You're joking, right?"**

**"No," said Tommy. "Do you have any sheets in your closet?"**

**" _Ja_ ," Alex replied.**

**Tommy turned to him with a toothy, goofy grin a la Naruto Uzumaki, and said, "We're gonna get you outta here!"**

**Alex should have been shocked at Tommy's declaration, but he wasn't. He was, however, relieved.**

**They spent the next several minutes working on a bedsheet rope to get Alex out of the room. They had to test the length a few times, until they were able to find the right length to get Alex down. While they lowered it down, Tommy stuck his head out and looked around. There were no police, no Bundeswehr, nothing. Just a few cars on the side of the road. "Superhero Union knows about this, why doesn't the police?" Tommy asked. "Where are they?"**

**"They took all our phones and disconnected the house phones," said Alex. "But my _vatti_  has a direct line to the Superhero Union."**

**"Huh," Tommy said. "When you get down, find a way to call the cops." He also looked to the side and up the house. "Hey, where might your dad be?"**

**"His bedroom is on the floor above us," said Alex.**

**"Perfect," Tommy said. He helped Alex out of the room and onto the window sill. After re-donning his helmet, he pulled himself out of the window and waited until Alex was out of the room.**

**"What's your name?" Alex asked.**

**"Red Hawk!" Tommy replied. "What? Did you think I was going to reveal my real name? And by the way, telling the cops about what I look like is a violation of the Union and government agreement. What? I know my rights as a Union member!"**

**"Fine," said Alex. "Good luck!"**

**"I don't need it," Tommy said as he watched Alex descend down to the street and take off.**

**Now the hard part was getting up there. He looked around for anything to grab onto but didn't find anything. Not even a storm drain. Of course, that might not work out, since he was probably far too heavy for the storm drain. But as he examined his gloves, some words appeared on his HUD. Must be some late-shift worker forced to monitor his missions while Rene spent the night on the town.**

**Okay, moving on. The words read, 'USE STICKY MODE'. "Should've called it 'Spidey Mode'," Tommy muttered to himself. The problem is, he didn't know how to do it. But as if someone was on the other end was annoyed with him (which must be the case) the words 'STICKY MODE ACTIVATED' flashed on the HUD. He wouldn't have known if his fingers didn't stick together to like a second. The awkwardness passed and he jumped up to place his sticky hand on the bricks.**

**He lifted himself up onto the next window sill and used his laser on the window. Hopefully the Mayor's insurance covered window-cutting-lasers. Well, he probably had more important things to worry about than some newbie superhero cutting his windows right now. When he pulled himself up and into the house, he rolled on the floor and pointed his laser at nothing.**

**A little awkward.**

He stood up straight and looked around, grateful that no one was looking. Rookie superhero thing, is all. He looked left and right. He could see a light off to the right. Stairway. So, by process of elimination, it was off to the left.

So he went left.

A little bit of light peeked out from under the door of the first room he came across. He placed himself against the next to the door and knocked three times. He heard scuffling on the other side of the door. It opened. Someone burst out of the room. Tommy reached and grabbed the person. He knew they were a bad guy, because he wore the same suit the rest of them wore. The person struggled against Tommy's sleeper hold, but it wasn't sufficient enough to break Tommy's grip on him.

Satisfied, Tommy let go. The man slumped to the ground and Tommy went into the room. Someone was laying on the bed, apparently out cold. A needle that he just barely avoided was on the ground next to the bed. The automatic scan indicated this was the only time it was used. Must've been some knock-out stuff. However, the needle showed traces of a different drug—meth. "Okay," he said.

Okay, HOW the person was knocked out was not the issue. THAT they were out was the issue. He walked over to the person and lifted the sheet off. It was a girl, about his age. And holy cow, was she beautiful. He audibly gulped at the sight of her beautiful face and silky brown hair. He had to look away and gather his thoughts. It was his fault he froze up at the sight of her.

He shook the woman, noting at how slender she was. She was obviously healthy. He gently picked her up and placed her on his back. She was light. He carried her out of the room and sat her against the wall next to the door. She was going to be out for a while, so he could afford to keep moving.

And so he did.

Alex's directions brought him to the end of the hallway. He could hear people conversing in German coming from the room where the light was peeking out from under the door. The master bedroom. He leaned over to get a peek into the room. The door was closed. He crept up to the door and waited on the other side. He strained to listen, but couldn't hear much until he laid his ear against the door.

He could hear someone speaking on the other side, but it was in Bavarian. Not German, but the Austro-Bavarian dialect. He had a hard time learning German, but he could tell from the tones that one of them was the leader.

Tommy cursed his inability to learn German. But all he could do was listen, and wait. But is so focused on what was going on inside the room and didn't notice what was going on outside of it. Well, behind him, anyways. He definitely didn't know anybody was listening on the other side of the door or else he might have been a little more careful and not stepping in the shadow of the door.  
  
First, he did not know when the figures behind him was beginning to stir. Second, even though he could  _hear_  the footsteps coming his way, he didn't exactly  _know_  they were coming his way. He's too busy focusing on the man speaking German with what sounded like a Finnish accent. Course there were Finns in Germany. This wasn't surprising. Nothing in Europe surprised him anymore. The man speaking with the native German accent did not sound happy and he recognized his voice. It was the mayor. He finally found his goal.

He kept listening for several moments. The man speaking with the Finnish accent lectured the man speaking his native German, as if he had done something wrong. It's probably just some bullshit he came up with as an excuse to invade the man's house. Or at least that's what Tommy could tell. "I need to work on my German," Tommy muttered to himself.  
  
The next thing he knew, the door head open and somebody grabbed his shoulder and threw him down to the ground hard. He got back up and blocked a punch. The man tried to give him another punch but he blocked that as well. Grapple with the man for several minutes or moments, until he finally stuck his leg in between his opponent's legs, and took him down. He punched him just to be sure.

"Well done," he heard the man with the Finnish accent saying and clapping. "I was wondering why you were so late. I apologize that my family has kept you from finding me for so long. How are you? Do you need something to drink? I could have some tea ready for you."

He wore a white robe with a white hood. Luckily it did not invoke the terrorist organization with the "K" initials. But there was an eye drawn in black on the front of it. The mayor and the mayor's wife were right next to him. They were bound and gagged, like in a cartoon. But Tommy didn't think for one second that they were in a very good mood. The mayor and his wife were frightened. "Greetings," said the man. "My name is the Herald. The man you so rudely hurt was my best friend. His name is of no importance for now, I just want to know more about you."

"Uh, what?" Tommy asked.

"I was expecting you," said the man. "Are you not going to tell me anything about yourself?"

"Good evening," said Tommy. "I'm the Red Hawk, and I'll be your superhero tonight. Do you want to surrender or do you want to do this the hard way?"

The man in the hood threw his head back and laughed. "Superheroes are  _so_  FUNNY," the man said while lacing his fingers together. "How often do you practice so that line? Do you say to everyone you meet?"

"Real funny," said Tommy. "You're not going to rile me up. Let the mayor go and we can end this without a fight."

The robed man shook his head. "But I just met you," he said.

"Keep talking," said Tommy. "From the looks of it, you're not wearing the same armor your friends were wearing. If you even tried to attack me it would be over real quick. And since nobody seems to be coming behind me, what have you got?"

From the subtle scowl on the man's lips, Tommy could tell that he wasn't playing the man's game. The man with the expected some big burly musclehead, meat bag and not a calm, cool and rational martial artist. "Surrender now," said Tommy. "And who knows? You might just get a plea deal."

"I will not let you get away with harming my family," said the Herald.

"Your buddies attacked me first," said Tommy. "I'm in the right to react. Give up. NOW."

The Herald shook his head. "No." He said firmly. He stood up and pointed at Tommy. "It may sound like the ramblings of a mad man and your typical comic book super villain, but I did not come here to surrender to you nor do I expect to see you only once. Men like you are walking sins and must be cleansed."

Tommy blew a derisive raspberry. "PFFFT! Who cares?" He asked. "But, if you insist—"

He reached for the Herald and to his surprise, several things happened all at once. He felt someone grab him from behind and try to lift him up. The Herald lunged for him and punched his helmet. He felt a hard blow to the small of his back, which, if he wasn't wearing his suit, might have shattered his spine, because it HURT. He screamed. Then, the person holding him from behind let him go. That person grunted and screamed in pain, which could only mean that someone had taken care of him. He saw his opportunity to rescue the Mayor and took it. He ran over to the Mayor and cut the ties on his and his wife's wrists.

"GET OUTTA HERE!" he shouted, forgetting the "let's" part. A beeping sound to his right drew his attention and he saw the Herald holding a silver ball in his hand. His blood and spine chilled. A bomb!

The person who must've attacked the bad guy grabbing him grabbed HIS elbow. "GO!!" they shouted. Tommy grabbed the Mayor by the waist and the other person grabbed his wife. The two crashed through the window right as the bomb exploded.

The crowd that had gathered outside the Mayor's mansion looked up and screamed as they saw not just the explosion, but the Red Hawk and another, armored superhero flying out the window with the Mayor and his wife.

Tommy pressed on his belt buckle to activate his Hawk wings, which he used to break his fall and descend gently down to the ground. Several police and firefighters rushed to the Mayor and his wife. They wrapped blankets around their shoulders, but had to get out of the way for the Mayor and his wife to reunite with their sun.

As the press, the cops and the EMTs focused on the Mayor, Tommy collapsed onto his backside. He was exhausted. His muscles ached and his breathing was quick. He looked up as the Mayor walked up to him and knelt down. "My son told me how you helped him escape," he said. "Thank you very much, Red Hawk." He held his hand out for him to shake, which Tommy accepted. "I'll be sure to praise your deeds tonight. It's a shame my house has been destroyed."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Tommy.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" the Mayor asked. "Besides, I have insurance."

Tommy laughed. The Mayor walked away, but Tommy wasn't done talking. The press came up to him, and he had to answer several questions. He could've sworn one of the reporters was Martin's sister, her name escaping him in this moment of exhaustion.

Finally, when he was finished he stood up, only to be grabbed by the arm. Things were already going so fast, he wasn't terribly surprised by this, but damn if it didn't hurt! The new hero dragged him away from the fray and to a dark corner (if you could call it that) of the city.

Tommy's night vision instantly activated and he got a good glimpse of the person. They were wearing... elf armor? Well, a more modern model, one that covered the entire face and body, like what he was wearing. Henshin armor must be more popular than he thought. "Uh, hi," he said.

"Hello," said the person.

"Sooo, you're an elf?"

"Is that it?" the person asked. The voice sounded female. "Yes, I'm an elf. Now remove your helmet, I'm a Heroes Union member, too."

"Fine," he said as he removed his helmet. Some of his hair flopped about, the rest stuck to his head as hat and sweaty hair. "So what do you want?"

"I wanted to thank you for helping me," she said before removing her helmet.

Tommy's eyes popped and his jaw dropped in shock. "YOU'RE THAT GIRL FROM THE HOUSE!!!!"


	6. Take a Breather

"Calm down!" the elf-girl hissed/stage whispered. "What do you want to do, wake a Hawk!?"

Tommy stammered, the elf-girl put her finger to her lips, and a light went on and then off. "I'm sorry, I just—I didn't expect to see an elf."

"No one ever does," said the elf-girl. Her expression of sadness and disappointment cut through Tommy and he immediately felt bad for what he said. He fidgeted, rubbing his sweaty brown hair and looking away.

"Sorry about that," he said. "So, um, what's your name and what were you doing there?"

"Much better," said the elf-girl. "My name is Arwen Beriadiell."

"... Arwen?"

Arwen sighed and rubbed her face. "This is what I get for having a dad who REALLY like Lord of the Rings," she said. "So what's yours?"

"Tommy Driscoll."

"A nice, average name," Arwen muttered. "What were you doing there?"

"Superhero Union sent me," said Tommy.

"Are you the only one available?" Arwen asked.

"Well, what's Schneefee gonna do?" Tommy replied. "Throw a snowball at them? And Schwert? She doesn't even care about muggers!"

"Don't talk to me about her," Arwen huffed as she walked past Tommy, deactivating her super armor, and that part wasn't the most surprising part to Tommy. She shuddered.

"Do you know her?"

"Let's just say you don't want to face her sword," said Arwen.

"Sounds like fun," said Tommy. He deactivated his suit and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. He followed her on her exit from the dark, quiet part of town they were in. "So where are you going?"

"Why do you ask?" she replied.

"I was curious?" he replied.

"None of your business!" she replied.

"Thanks for telling me."

She may have been annoyed at how he followed out of the area they were in, but she didn't say anything. She just looked back at him every now and then, which only annoyed him to death. And she walked faster than him, too. He didn't need to be a mind-reader to tell that she was doing her best to get away from him as soon as possible. "You know, if you don't like me, you can just come out and say it," he said. "At least thank me for saving your ass."

"And so should you," she replied.

"Alright, thank you very much for saving my life," he said. "I wouldn't have gotten out of there if you hadn't helped. Now could you PLEASE tell me where you're going?"

Arwen sighed and said, "The StuSta."

"You live there, too?"

She nodded.

"Which building?"

"I'm not telling," she said.

"Well that doesn't help."

"I don't want to think about what might happen if we're seen hanging out," she said. "However if you must know, it's in a high-rise."

"Better," he said.

They came upon the crime scene several minutes later. The cops had arrived and cordoned off the house. The mayor and his family sat on the back bumper of an ambulance, wrapped in blankets and talking to the detective. Arwen pulled a beanie of her ears and Tommy pulled a hat down over his eyes. But not before he noticed Alex, the mayor's son and winked at him. Alex winked back without his parents, or Arwen seeing.

But they were stopped when an officer held his hand out. "Halt!" he said. " _Wer bist du?_ "

"I'm sorry, what?" Tommy asked.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," he said. "I'm Officer Klopp. We're not allowing anyone near the mayor's house right now. Something happened and I cannot let anyone—"

"What happened?" Arwen asked.

"I can't say," said Officer Klopp. "I just said that, by the way. Please, go that way." He pointed in the direction which they came from. They turned around and back to him.

"But we just came from that way," said Tommy. "And that way is the U-Bahn, and that's where—"

"We're going back to the Studentenstadt," said Arwen. "And the U-Bahn line we need to take is that way!"

"Oh, well, if you insist, just go around," said Officer Klopp. "A bit out of the way to go on a date, isn't it?"

Tommy and Arwen rolled their eyes at him and walked away. Until he froze upon the sight of a young woman snooping around the crime scene, sticking a digital recorder in the police officers' faces and generally annoying them. He hissed, grabbed Arwen's elbow and dragged her in the opposite direction, despite the elf's protests. "SHITSHITSHITSHIT!" He continued hissing.

"STOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!!!!" Arwen also hissed. She dug her heels in and made him stop.

"Elves are strong," he remarked.

"WHAT are you doing!?"

"That girl," Tommy stage whispered, "Is my friend Martin Werner's sister, Tanya. SHE is a journalism student, and if she sees me here, she'll get suspicious!"

"Ah," said Arwen. "That's still not an excuse to pull my arm out of my socket!"

"Sorry!" he said. "I just panicked!"

"Well, panic without hurting me!" she hissed.

He let go and looked back to see if Tanya was looking. She wasn't. Tommy sighed. "Let's get outta here," he said.

"Agreed."

They both walked to the nearest U-Bahn station to get the train back to the Studentenstadt. They wordlessly made their way through the ticket gates, waited for their train and boarded once it finally got there. The train ride was also silent, but not awkwardly. They checked their smartphones for news about the incident. There weren't any big stories at the moment, just news updates surrounding the incident and the fights that occurred inside the mansion. That was it. It was satisfactory for Tommy, at least, as the mention of his superhero codename made him briefly smile each time he saw it on the screen. Arwen didn't seem to care. Nobody really paid attention to them unless they obviously had never seen a real-life elf before, or were just gawking at the obvious American.

Upon arriving at their stop, they swiftly exited the train and station in under two minutes. They also wasted no time crossing the street to the main StuSta campus. The first sign they noticed was when neither of them left to one of the high-rises. To their muted surprise, they both came to the same building. Neither noticed much as they entered the building, until they came to the elevator. Tommy pressed his floor number first and Arwen did the same without looking, as if it was just second nature.

It wasn't until the elevator stopped that they noticed it. The door opened and both looked at each per suspiciously. They stepped out of the elevator and kept walking until Tommy stopped at his room and Arwen stop only a few paces away.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Tommy sighed.

"What?" she asked.

"Oi! Tommy! Are you—" Martin stopped the moment he came out of his room, noticing Tommy and the elf-girl. He promptly grabbed Tommy by the scruff of the neck, dragged him away from Arwen and threw his arm around his shoulder. "Is there something you forgot to tell me?"

"Well, I just came back from a mission," said Tommy. "And I rescued her, so it's not what it looks like."

"Not what looks like?" Martin asked.

"Pretty much," said Tommy.

"Tommy, when you bring an elf back, you... Wait," he looked back to her.

"I live here," she said as if she already knew what he was about to say.

"Oh," said Martin. "Do you even go to LMU?"

"TUM, actually," she replied.

"No wonder we haven't seen her," said Tommy.

"How did you find her again?"

"On a mission, to save the Mayor?"

"Oh. Let's go in your room and I'll debrief you."

"Why are you talking like that?" Tommy asked.

"Just come on," Martin grumbled. He grabbed Tommy and Arwen and dragged them both into Tommy's room.

Once inside, Tommy freed himself from Martin's grip and locked the door. Then he grabbed three Weihenstephaner Original bottles. "I'm a walking Irish and Indian stereotype," he said to himself.

"Indian? But you don't look—"

"Think Winnetou," said Tommy. "Except I'm not Apache, I'm Potawatomi. And I'm actually Indian, unlike some people." He glanced over that the playing-innocent Martin.

"Soooo, Tommy, what happened?" Martin asked while sitting down.

"Well, I busted in, beat up some bad guys, rescued the Mayor's son, rescued  _her_ , and had to deal with this guy calling himself The Herald."

"You rescued her?" Martin chuckled as he looked at the young she-elf rolling her eyes in annoyance. "What was she doing there?"

"I was kidnapped before I could activate my elven armor," she said.

"Do you know Schwert, by the way?"

"Not personally," she said. "Just once. And I would rather forget about it."

"And since she blew me off a couple times, she can forget about getting any help from me!" said Tommy.

"Don't worry," said Arwen. "Her enemies will fight her and her alone. It is part of a... treaty... if you will."

"You elves could stand to be less mysterious," said Martin.

"Even I don't know why her enemies only attack her," said Arwen. "There must be some kind of contract."

"That, and if they tried, the Union could probably take 'em down," said Tommy.

"Or the situation is more complex than we assume," said Arwen.

"And it's not our concern," said Tommy. "I want to know where this cult came from."

Martin laughed nervously and derisively. "I don't like the sound of that," said Tommy.

"That cult is allied with ISIS," said Martin.

"FUCK!" Tommy shouted. "So what's gonna happen now!? Am I gonna have the whole fucking Islamic State after me!?"

"Maybe!" said Martin. "They're allied, not actual members of ISIS!"

"That doesn't help much!" Tommy replied.

"What do you have to worry about!?" Arwen laughed. "You have a fucking power armor! ISIS wouldn't stand a chance! That, and they have yet to even come close to—oh. OH!" She cursed in Elvish.

"Yeah, I pretty much figured that out right away," said Tommy.

"What? They won't recruit superheroes or supervillains?"

"First off, why would supervillains join the competition?" Tommy asked. "Second, I've read the Union newsletter. No Mideast superhero has yet to join them, because they all agree they're a threat. It's if they get their hands on someone with superpowers, or some way to obtain them that we're in trouble."

"But, that's the risk the whole world takes," said Arwen. "Now, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about, Tommy."

"Yeah?"

"Are you an American?"

Tommy nodded and told her where he was from.

"Ah," she said. "So that's why you were wearing those colors. I thought you were a Nazi or something."

Tommy scoffed to sit back in his seat while he ignored Martin's snickering. "Why would I be a Nazi if I'm an Indian?" he asked. "Last time I checked, they kinda hate us. And I don't like them."

"Then where did you get the colors from?" she asked.

"The Chicago Blackhawks," he said with a shrug.

"But the colors—"

"Manchester United, FC Ingolstadt, FC  **Nürnberg** , Eintracht Frankfurt, SC Freiburg and Urawa Red Diamonds all wear similar colors," said Tommy. "Hell, even the Badgers add a little black to their cardinal and white. There's also St. Cloud State, the Portland Winterhawks, Louisville Cardinals and my also-hometown Bulls."

"But the crest?"

"I'm a little iffy on the logo, but they're my hometown team and they've got the best look in sports."

"Then why not call yourself the Blackhawk?"

"Well, because for some reason it didn't feel right, like I wasn't the person meant to use the name," he said. "Plus, I'd probably get sued."

"Good point," said Arwen.

"Now, I have a question for you: what were you doing in there?" he asked.

"They jumped me not half an hour before," she said. "I don't know why. Perhaps I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Never good for that to happen," said Martin.

"And are you a Union member?" Tommy asked again.

"No, why?"

"Weeeeelllllllllll," he sat down and looked over at Martin. He rolled his eyes, which Tommy took as a vague reaction. "How about we work together?"

"Do you want me to be your sidekick?" she asked. "I am NO ONE'S sidekick!"

"I didn't say sidekick!" he said. "I mean more like a... business partner or something; a wingmate; a..."

"Look, just say yes," said Martin.

"A business partner?" Arwen asked while ignoring Martin. Tommy nodded and she looked around to think for a moment. She was lost in her head for a moment before a little grin appeared on her lips. "So we'll be equals?" she asked in her elven accent, a hybrid of Irish, Manchester English and German. "I like it! Deal!" She extended her hand, Tommy took it and they shook hands.

"Now all we need to do is figure out a name for you," said Tommy. "How about—"

" _ _Die Elfenritterin__ ," said Martin. "Elf-knight!"

"Elf-knight?" Tommy asked. "Isn't that kind of, I dunno, GENERIC?"

"And Red Hawk isn't?"

"It's still kinda specific," said Tommy.

"For now," said Arwen. "I doubt I'm going to keep it for very long, though. The Union does allow you to change codenames, correct?"

"As far as I know," said Tommy. "Haven't checked up on that part of the Union policy, and I'm not interested in changing my codename."

"Sounds like a plan," said Arwen.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

They got to work on Arwen's application the next morning. Arwen wasn't sure it would be done in a short period of time, since she was more than familiar with the notoriously-difficult German bureaucracy. The longest time was spent just filling out the confusing and unnecessarily complicated paperwork. She had to do at least a part of it herself in between classes and at the StuSta.

It was of no surprise that when she sent the paperwork via e-mail, she got even more paperwork from the Union. And once she got a look at it, she cursed in Quenya with her eyes popping out so far they'd set a Guinness record.

If she wanted to get to superheroing, she had to finish this as quickly and efficiently as possible.

But knowing she had to take a break as soon as possible, she got up from her desk and stepped outside her room. At that point, she accidentally bumped into someone walking down the hall. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry," she said.

"It's... okay," the other woman replied. "Are you an elf?"

"Yes... why?"

"I just... wanted to... know," the other woman replied, awkwardly pausing every now and then. "My name's Kathrin, by the way."

"Arwen," she said. "Are you an American?"

"Yes, but German-born," said Kathrin. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a break from paperwork," said Arwen.

Kathrin scoffed. "Ah, German bureaucracy," she said. "I'm surprised no one's gone insane from it."

"You're used to it?" Arwen asked, her grin sly and crossing her arms.

"I was born here," Kathrin replied. "But I grew up in America. And just applying for a visa to come back for college was a nightmare!"

"If you think that's bad, being an elf is worse," said Arwen. "I was born in an elf community near Stuttgart, with all my documents in Elvish. They had to hire a damn Tolkien nerd in order to get me into kindergarten  _in_ Stuttgart!"

"Oof," said Kathrin.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Our American protagonist, meanwhile, checked his bank balance; money he made working part-time, study abroad stipend, and some from his parents. But, judging by his reaction to the sudden upsurge in funds, he wasn't expecting his Japanese benefactor to actually pay him for the Red Hawk suit. Those funds were going to need to be explained.

But right now the most pressing matter was a paper demanding to be written, but only half of the first paragraph was done. That blinking cursor taunted him. "Fuck," he whispered. "Stupid writer's block." He typed one letter into the thing, but he immediately felt unsatisfied.

Then his Skype icon went nuts, startling him and almost making him fall backwards in his chair. He recovered on time.

He was also unsurprised when Martin walked in. "My mom had to back out of a weekend trip to Berchtesgaden," he said. "Are you available?"

"Yeah," said Tommy. "Isn't that where what's-his-stache—"

"Yes, but there's better things there that has nothing to do with him," Martin hissed. "Moving on, invite the Elf-girl."

"Arwen," said Tommy.

"Whatever," Martin finished. "By the way, have you found out more about the Mayor's house?"

"Nope," Tommy shook his head. "You mean besides the same shit I already know?"

"I guess," Martin answered. "What about the people who did it?"

"Union's website doesn't have anything," Tommy grumbled and showed him the site. "And I e-mailed the Union's reps." Minimizing the window he had open, he went to his Union Gmail account and showed Martin a conversation he'd had. "They don't know anything, either. And look at the time stamp." He pointed at when he sent the e-mail, and their response. The Union had replied just a minute after receiving his e-mail.

Martin grunted. " _Dumkopf_ ," he whispered. However, he noticed a line in the e-mail, which caught his attention. "The Hauptmann is currently assisting the Bundestag and the EU Assembly investigate an uptick in both Jihadist and far-right activity targeting superheroes, elves and other minorities."

"So, now I have to worry about both neo-nazis AND ISIS?!" Tommy groaned.

"Technically, they're the same thing," Martin mused, "Just different skin colors, religions and... stuff."

"Why would you compare them to nazis?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe because you're in a country that knows something about nazis?" Martin asked. "But what do I know? I'm just from that country."

"I get it," Tommy grumbled.

"And if's not like there's a reminder of that shit right outside the city, and my teachers tell me, 'hey, you come from the last country that tried to take over the world, here's why you're bad' or anything."

"I GET IT!" Tommy snapped.

Holding his hands up, Martin backed off. He stopped when he bumped into a semi-acoustic guitar laying against Tommy's bed. It wasn't Tommy's guitar, but his Irish cousin's. Of course it was. Tommy couldn't play guitar. His cousin could.

Sitting on Tommy's bed, Martin started playing the guitar. He started with a few simple notes and chords before beginning to play Johnny Cash's boom-chicka-boom strumming style. Then he began singing "Folsom Prison Blues" in his native language.

Tommy should have been angry, but he wasn't. When he first came to Germany, he was surprised at how people reacted when he told them he was part Indian. No, not that Indian. He did get people asking if he was from Mumbai. They always reacted a certain way when he told them what tribe he belonged to. Germans really lionized Native Americans, and he didn't know why until they told him about Winnetou. Winnetou, an Apache chief, was a fictional character created by Karl May, and the books were monstrously popular in Germany. He tried to read it, but found it laughably inaccurate. It didn't take long for it to irritate him. The romanticism of Indians wore down at him.

Wait, why was he thinking about Indians after Martin started playing Johnny Cash? Right, because country music = Old West or something. And Cash did make that album about the Natives' plight.

Then an idea popped in his head. He quickly thought about it and then turned to Martin to say, "I think I just got an idea."


End file.
